Zero: A Legend Reborn
by tsukasa030
Summary: Two Children, two worlds, now lost in a whole new world yet one familiar the two will have to learn to survive. But first, Jessie will have to stop getting them into trouble and his navi Zero... has to get use to being a navi. Takes place during Stream.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE or Rockman Zero sadly.

Authors Note: This is an SI fic.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 1

In our universe a young brunette named Jesse O'Neil sits at a table in a local college waiting for a friend to show up. He is of average height, eighteen years old, and has green eyes. Finally after two hours of waiting the girl finally shows up.

Her name is Hinata Hoshi. She has brown eyes and short brown hair. She's shorter than her college buddy even though she's older and she wears mostly dark colored clothing.

"Hey Hinata. What took so long?", greeted O'Neil.

The nineteen-year-old looked at her friend and replied, "I got tied up in traffic again. Some crazy old hag cut me off." This had been happening to her for the last few weeks and she was really getting sick of such occurrences. She looked at Jesse's GameBoy SP and asked, "Have you managed to beat Megaman Zero 4 yet?"

Jesse glared at the offending cartridge and replied, "Yes. I hate Capcom for ending it like that. I mean sure killing X was all fine and everything, but doing the same to Zero was crossing the line."

Hinata smirked and stated, "You're still pissed because they just made Axl vanish too aren't you."

The brunette refused to meet Hinata's eyes. "Maybe just a little. Still why did they have to kill Zero?"

"Well I wouldn't sweat it too much. Capcom is a greedy corporation and too many fans would be royally pissed for permanently removing Zero. They'll find some weird way of bringing him back." said Hinata. She got up and went to the Pepsi machine to purchase a drink and quickly returned downing half of the Pepsi in one swig. She sees the smirk on Jesse's face and says, "What? I need my caffeine to function. It's either that or I turn into a real pain."

The brunette smiles and mutters, "Ya got that right."

"What was that?", she asked even though she knew what he'd said. When he replied 'Nothing' she smiled and replied, "Better be."

Jesse pulls out a small carrying case and opens it. Inside is the entire Megaman Zero collection and two backup batteries for the GameBoy SP. "I always come prepared.", he said.

"Obviously. Now let's see that ending again.", she said. Hinata had seen it before, but she wanted to see how many tries that it would take Jesse to get it.

When the small black box was turned on it immediately shocked the teen. "Oh crap that hurt!", he said placing the throbbing finger in his mouth. The worst of the shock had hit the index finger, but had numbed most of his hand for a few brief moments.

"Well ya should be more careful.", said Hinata enjoying the spectacle. She had since pulled out her own SP and Megaman Zero games setting them to the side. "Ah the freedom of being so far from home.", she said enjoying being hundreds of miles away from her psychotic parents.

"Yeah, Florida's nice this time of year. Scotching heat, rude tourists, and cranky old people at every turn.", said Jesse sarcastically.

Both had come to Florida to escape their parents and enjoy finishing their college degrees. Jesse was going for computer programming while Hinata was finishing her degree in business management. She really loved bossing people around and did a good job getting everything in order. Many times the instructors were taking instructions from her.

A dull red light caught Hinata's attention and she glanced from her cola to the source of the light. In front of her and Jesse were two glowing GameBoy SPs and the glow was extending around the game cartridges. "Um….Jess…I don't mean to alarm you, but our games are being devoured by a funny red light."

"Huh….What the…", said Jesse trying to grab the games. Unfortunately as soon as his hand reached his games and system he felt a much stronger shock and caused him to lose all feeling throughout his body. He then fell towards the floor and was thankfully caught by Hinata.

"Don't do that again.", said the teen. Realizing how it would look to others she glared at her brown haired friend and said, "Tell anyone about this and you'll die."

The two had merely been friends for several years through MSN Messenger and always refused to risk that friendship by trying to become something more….well that and they were just not interested in each other like that. "Believe me I won't."

When they turned their attention back to their systems and the lights they found two glowing creatures hovering over the table. Thankfully everyone was out at lunch or else there would be questions that neither person would or could answer. They both tried to examine the glowing creatures closer, but could make out few of their psychical traits due to the intensity of their glow. One creature was engulfed in a red orb of light while the other was consumed by a soft blue.

"They look like Cyber-Elves.", commented Jesse.

"That's what we are.", the red one answered.

Both teens looked at each other doubtfully and then back to the creatures. "So you're Cyber-Elves?" Hinata asked not really knowing what else to say.

"Yes we are.", said the blue one. It flew over to the girl and seemed to be waiting for any more signs of disbelief.

"I call dibs on the red one. I've always favored that particular color.", said Jesse.

The red orb chuckled and said, "I would hope so since I came from your PS."

"SP. GameBoy SP.", corrected Hinata. She looked back to the blue orb that she'd claimed as her partner and asked, "Is that one always like that?"

The blue Cyber-Elf shrugged and said, "Probably. I haven't really spent much time with that one. I'll give you a word of advice though….never follow him anywhere. He always runs head first into trouble."

"I warned you.", said the red Cyber-Elf.

Jesse moved next to Hinata and whispered, "These guys can grant wishes or something like that, right?"

The red Cyber-Elf sat down on Jesse's should and said, "Not wishes per say, but we can do some things. What did you have in mind?"

Jesse hesitates for a few minutes and exchanges looks with Hinata. She clearly has no idea what to do either. "Well I'd like to have the 'Megaman Zero' as my NetNavi."

"NetNavi?" both Cyber-Elves question having never heard that word before.

Hinata starts explaining, "NetNavis are computer programs with their own souls and personalities. For computers in this day and age it's impossible for such a creation to exist. Not just because of the technology, but because the programming expertise necessary to create them just doesn't exist….yet." She placed a hand on Jesse's shoulder and continued, "He's capable of programming some AI's, but they a extremely limited in capabilities. They have no personality and lack any emotion."

Both Cyber-Elves seem to think for a minute before smiling. "We can fix that.", they both said. The light flares up brighter than before and forces both teens to look away. When the light dies down there are two Link PET's sitting on the table.

One is red with the a Z filled with green in the center as the logo and the other

Hinata smirks and points her finger at the red one. "You are Zero aren't you? The same Zero that took down Dr. Weil."

Appearing in holographic form Zero smiles and says, "Yes I am. After Dr. Weil was defeated the Mother Elf turned me into a Cyber-Elf to save my life. But when Ragnarok crashed the transport system on board opened a tear between universes and we ended up here." The red navi turns to Jesse. "Thanks for wishing me back into this form even if I'm not a Reploid anymore. Being a Cyber-Elf is just too creepy for me. I don't know how X stood it for so long."

Hinata's new PET projects a hologram, but it's of the blue Cyber-Elf from before. "Why didn't you change?", she asked.

The Elf taps it's foot and says, "Because you didn't specify what you want me to look like and you forgot to name me. I need a name ya know."

Jesse smirks knowing that if he laughs Hinata would have his ass. _"Never piss a girl off when she knows any form of martial arts."_, Jess thought. He picks up Zero's PET and uses the armband and clip on the side to attach around his arm. The strap is softer than he'd expect since it was on his bare upper arm.

"So how about it? Name and other specs please.", said the impatient Cyber-Elf.

Hinata reaches into her bag and pulled out a small sketchbook. She turned to the sketch on the last page and pointed it out to the Elf. On that page was a detailed drawing of a navi and Hinata's desired capabilities for it. "So you want to name me Blaze, huh? I like that name.", said the blue orb spotting the name written at the top of the page. In seconds the Elf becomes the very navi from the drawing.

"Nice.", comment Zero and Jesse.

"You wouldn't expect anything less from me would ya?" Hinata smiles at her masterpiece brought to life. Now all she had to do was work on the newborn navi's personality.

"Why did you choose to create a Link PET?", asked the brunette.

Zero looks up to his new NetOp and replies, "It was the most advanced one I saw in your laptop. I've been stuck between it and your GameBoy SP since I fell into this world. Blaze moved into the other one when you connected it to your PC to download cheats into it."

Hinata and Blaze laugh at the speechless Jess. He looks at Zero and says, "You mean to tell me that you have known every time I cheated on Megaman Zero 1-4?"

"Yep and I didn't like it. I see I've got my work cut out for me as a NetNavi.", says Zero smiling wickedly. "First we'll have to start by adjusting your body from that of a geek to a swordsman."

"Hey!", shouts Jess insulted. "I'm no geek. I may not be an athlete, but I'm no geek."

"Yeah right. I've had access to your web cam and I know that you've got very little life outside of computers. That classifies you as a geek in my book…but don't worry I'm gonna change all of that.", says Zero. He moves to lean in closer to his NetOp's ear and says, "You might have been a fan before, but…..when this is over you're gonna hate me."

Jess gulps while the other two exchange pleased smiles that they are not the one stuck with Zero.

"Always be careful what you wish for Jesse….because you just might get it. Surely you remember that old saying.", says a smirking Hinata.

* * *

Nearly eight months after the meeting with the Cyber-Elves Hinata and Jess have made considerable progress forming a strong bond with their navis. 

True to his word Jesse absolutely hated when Zero decided that he had to train. He didn't really hate his navi, but he did hate hearing the red navi call out 'time for training'. It usually turned into an all our hunt for the NetOp and it was usually resolved when Blaze and Hinata dragged him into the room where the former Hunter would be waiting. When Zero was in one of his moods he'd have his NetOp train for several hours straight before allowing the human to relax and many times the NetOp was too stiff to move afterwards for several days. It was one of the reasons why he was glad that this semester his courses were all online.

Jess now had a toned body and was quick on his feet. He could handle a sword better than anyone he'd seen except for Zero and despite the rough start the two quickly became close friends.

Blaze and Hinata took to each other very quickly after they discovered just how alike they were in terms of personality. Hinata and Blaze had trained with each other after the first week being together and could easily beat anyone that pissed them off.

Hinata's body had been toned for years as she'd trained with her mother's brother-in-law since she was just six years old.

Zero sent an email to Hinata and Blaze telling them to be in their dorm room in twenty minutes. When they got there the duo found mechanical parts and circuit boards everywhere. "What the hell is this mess!", the girl demanded seeing as her friend had made such a huge mess in her room of all places.

"Give me a minute. I'm almost finished here.", said Jesse. Once finished with what he was doing he turned to the other duo and smiled. "With a lot of help from Zero I built something that I think that you're going to really like."

"A maid?", asked the other student cracking her knuckles. "Because that's what you are going to be cleaning this mess up otherwise."

"No…it's something even better than that. I also apologize for using your room, but I unfortunately have a roommate and you don't.", said the brunette as he flipped a switch. The lights in the room dimmed and a familiar multi-color glow surrounded the room.

"Is that what I think is?", asked Hinata.

"Yep. It's a Dimensional Area.", said Zero appearing over his NetOp's shoulder. "Jess told me about them and I remembered enough of Ceil's research to make them. It took the last five months because of us having to substitute parts. You should also know that I couldn't make you any Synchro-chips."

"Why not?", asked Hinata.

"Because we don't have rare metal.", answered her old friend watching as Zero and Blaze materialized in the room. Both NetOps walked to their navis and placed a hand on them. It was such an incredible feeling being able to touch a computer program. Neither person could describe it and they certainly didn't know where to begin.

The moment of joy was short-lived as the generator overheated and burned out several of the main components. The worst part occurred when the lights went out.

"I guess…I kinda…shorted out the entire neighborhood.", said Jesse. Walking over to the window both students saw that that was exactly what had happened.

Thankfully when the investigation was finished the authorities attributed it to old transformers that were poorly maintained. Zero and Blaze were just happy to be out of the computer and back in their PET's.

After four more months of hard work the Hunter had worked out most of the kinks in the generators and successfully created a stable Dimensional Area without blowing any more transformers. When the time came to test the generator again something went wrong and the generator created an enormous hole in the middle of Jesse's room. Both NetOps and NetNavis were sucked into the hole.

Jesse had gotten the worst of it when he was pulled it. Both of Hinata's shoes had come off and collided with his face which happened to be steal-toed boots.

* * *

When the two humans awoke they found themselves in the Rockman.EXE universe. They were watching the N1 match between Netto and Enzan. They wanted to help, but knew that they would never get there on time. 

The two navis informed their operators that there had been another problem. Somehow both had been turned into twelve-year-olds. Hinata took it rather well, but her friend complained about 'going through puberty again'.

They were eventually found on the streets without any ID and sent to a foster home until their parents could be located. Thankfully with tears on the part of Hinata they were put in the same home.

"Suckers. Gullible is an understatement.", she said after her superb performance. Even Blaze had believed that the waterworks was real.

The authorities believed that both twelve-year-olds had lost their parents to Dr. Wily and World Three. Neither disputed that because the truth would have given them permanent residency in the local loony bin.

Keeping Zero and Blaze carefully hidden the two played the parts of two confused, parent less children very well. Over time they were forced to develop a life here in this world after Zero discovered that he couldn't try to send them back to their home and even if he could they'd be returned there as they were now.

Their foster parents were named Ayame and Sasuke. Both tried to indulge their new children as much as possible. The reason for that was later discovered to be that Sasuke was unable to get Ayame pregnant after cancer had claimed that ability. The cancer was in remission, but it could easily return at any time and finish what it had started.

When the time came Zero and Blaze were revealed to their parents. Ayame and Sasuke believed that their 'children' had bought them with the money they were given as allowance.

Hinata and Jesse easily became excellent netbattlers thanks to their own training. The part both hated was that they couldn't fight directly against their opponents. Zero and Blaze didn't mind fighting since they were both friends with their NetOps. The NetNavis were also very eager to fight someone other than each other and Jesse was glad that Zero was sparring with other people rather than taking him down in less than ten seconds every time.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 2

Two years had passed since Jesse and Hinata were brought to this world with their navis. They had still not found a way to acquire a Synchro-chip when Grave arrived on the scene. Zero and Blaze watched the final battle between Bug-Style Rockman and the Grave Beast with keen interest.

"I'm mildly impressed." stated Zero as Netto managed to bring Rockman back to a sane state of mind. Even more impressive was when the blue navi's Master program rebuilt the entire cyber world.

Blaze just sulked because she couldn't jump into the battle without bringing the attention of the Net police to her NetOp. _"I could've done better than that."_ she thought.

When they arrived back at their new home they found their NetOps in deep thought. "So how are we going to get our hands on Synchro-chips?" asked Hinata.

Jesse and Zero no longer had access to the equipment that they had back home, so they couldn't hope to manufacture the chips. True getting the rare metal would be a simple task, but processing it into a chip was impossible without the right equipment. Said equipment could only be purchased and operated by someone eighteen years of age.

"Well then…I guess that we're just going to have to get creative." said Jesse smiling at the idea he already had forming.

"Alright dear brother", said Hoshi sweetly, "just what kind of insane idea have you come up with this time?"

"...make a deal with the devil." he said cryptically.

* * *

The next day Jesse and Hinata went for a walk with Navis in hand. O'Neil led the way into a factory. Oddly enough there was no security in the building and for one of its size Hinata and the navis had been expecting a guard at the very least.

"Jesse what is this place? What are you up to?" asked Zero. He was really getting worried and knowing his NetOp he had good reason to be. O'Neil was always getting into sticky situations.

"That's exactly what I'd like to know." came a voice over the intercom as the doors to the room shut and lock. "Now that I have your undivided attention humans, I think that it's time to explain what two little brats are doing here?"

Jesse smiled knowing that Hinata recognized the voice just as he did. "Why don't you come talk to us in person...Forte?" When silence followed the twelve-year-old said, "What's the matter Forte...cat got your tongue?"

One of the doors off to the left unlocked and the navi said, "Proceed along the central corridor. And don't try to run away, I control everything here."

"Oh I already know that. Just lead the way." said Jesse.

Zero and Blaze were certain that Jesse either had a great plan or a serious death wish. Hinata on the other hand was thinking, _"If he does something stupid...I'm gonna kill him assume Forte doesn't. And should Forte kill him I'll resurrect him and then kill him again."_

When they finally reached the destination the dark navi had guided them to they found the control room to the factory. Standing in front of the multiple security monitors was Shuryou. "Now then humans explain yourselves. What are you doing here?" demanded the robot.

"That's what I'd like to know." mutter Hinata catching Forte's attention.

"Say again." said Forte.

Jesse butted in saying, "Ignore her for now. She's angry because I didn't tell her what I was planning."

The robotic body looked back at the girl and said, "Pity...you might've lived longer."

"Oh I don't think that you wanna do that. In fact I think that we have much to discuss." said Jesse taking a seat. He was confident that the human hating navi would take the bait and now he would put that gamble to the test.

Forte scowled and demanded, "And just what could you possibly have that could be worth my time?" He was confident that this child was bluffing trying to find some way to escape the factory.

Jess leaned forward and said, "Dimensional Areas."

Now Forte was intrigued and amused at the same time. "And you can offer me such? Don't make me laugh. A child couldn't possibly have the knowledge to create such a thing."

"Don't be so sure Forte. Here's the deal...I'll help you construct Dimensional Area Generators in exchange for you allowing me to use the equipment to create my own Synchro-chips." said Jesse. "We don't have to play nicely with one another and this won't tarnish your reputation of hating humans. We get what we want and you get what you want."

"I'm already in the process of developing my own generators. So why should I-." Forte began before the brunette interrupted him.

"Ah yes, Allegro. Your overly emotional robotic servant. How nice." Jesse stood up and walked over to Forte knowing that the navi could kill him in less than a second. "But you don't really like that robot. In fact I'm betting that you think of him as just an annoyance, but you can't get rid of him if you want Dimensional Areas, which leaves you stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Forte glares at the child knowing that he's right. "And how do you know this human?" It actually beginning to unnerve the dark navi that someone knows so much about him and his current mood of that failure. What's worse is that Allegro is acting like a human four year old and always calling him 'onii-san'

The boy smirked and replied, "I'm psychic. Not always showing me every possible future, but enough to get what I want. And in this case serving both of our purposes."

"Then tell me what my future plans are human? Show me that you're a real psychic.", challenged Forte. He was certain that he had the boy now and the fidgeting girl next to him seemed to be all the proof that he would need.

Jesse leaned in and said, "You're going to resurrect Shademan and give him the means to strike at Dr. Regal." When Forte's eyes widened the boy went on to say, "You do know that if Regal gets control of the world you'll be hunted down and turned into one of his mindless drones like Dark Blues?"

"That fool wouldn't dare try something like that with me.", said the navi with unshakable confidence or so he thought.

"Oh really? A power hungry lunatic with the means to convert any navi he wants into a mindless pawn and one of the world's most powerful navis in sight. I think that that would be too great of an opportunity for the old man to pass up.", said Jesse knowing that he could easily twist the events of the future that he knew to come to make Forte believe him. Deciding to add fuel to the developing paranoia he added, "Don't forget Wily wanted to either control you or destroy you. Which ever was the easiest to accomplish."

"I'm fully aware of that old man's efforts to control me. And if you are truly a psychic then you should also know that I escaped his pitiful power." said the angry navi. The child clearly had some way of knowing exactly what the navi felt and he hated it. Yet if the child was correct, then he would have to start making his moves sooner than expected and the boy was exactly the kind of weapon that he would need. _"A psychic would be very beneficial to me."_, he thought.

"Well do you accept this proposal?" asked Jesse.

The navi considered the pros and cons of having this human's assistance. _"He doesn't want to 'be friends' or 'show' me that humans are not all bad. He's also not looking to control me. He came right out and told me his own goal for this co-venture."_ He turned to the leading child and said, "I accept your deal, but if you betray me I'll be hunting you down...and I will destroy you."

Raising his hands Jess said, "Hey I've got no problem with that. Did you know that it's said that the lowest level of Hell is reserved for the worst of sinners...those that betray?"

Forte knew where the child must've read that. _"Strange that someone his age would be reading 'Dante's Inferno'. I'm surprised that his parents allowed it, given that book's contents."_ Extending his hand as he knew was human custom for accepting a deal he shook the boy's hand. "Perhaps you could be of further assistance..."

"Yeah, the NetSaviors are soon going to find this place because of Allegro's foolishness. I hope that you've got a backup site to operate from." said Jesse shaking the robotic hand.

"That will be very helpful, but that's not what I was referring to. I might need your power for future use." said the navi pulling something out of one his pockets. He knew that he had something that would secure the help of the psychic for his future goals. Extending the hand where Jesse could see it he opened his hand.

Jesse's eyes widened when he saw what was inside. "Is that a real Synchro-chip?" he asked.

"_Bingo."_ Forte nodded. When Dr. Regal had stolen the ten Synchro-chips developed by Dr. Hikari Forte had stolen one from the Darkloids for his own study. He had no further use for the chip, but he knew these two children would love to get their hands on it. It had become his bargaining chip.

"What's the catch?" asked Jesse expecting nothing less for the human hater.

"_Smart boy."_ thought Forte. "The catch as you put it is simple...any information you have about the future you give to me. Well let me rephrase that...any information useful to my desires you give to me when you get it."

Jesse thought for a second knowing that he'd eventually be exposed as a fraud psychic. _"Well I could always tell him about Slur and Duo later. But there's still the chance that he'll bust me and kill me."_, he thought to himself. "Deal."

With that the deal had been made with the devil and there was no turning back.

They left the factory that day with a single Synchro-chip in hand. Zero scanned the chip just to be certain that Forte hadn't turned it into some kind of trap. Thankfully the scans turned up nothing.

"So tell me oh mighty psychic how do you intend to keep this charade going? Eventually he's going to figure out that you're not a real psychic and then he's going to kill both of us...or you rather." said Hinata. She was glad when they finally left that place and right now she wanted to kill her brother.

"She's gotta point Jess. That guy gave me bad vibes from all the way in here." said Zero.

"I know, but if we had told him the truth we all would have been killed. It's not something that he'd believe and besides...at present I'm just about as good as a psychic. We know what's going to happen, so why not use it to our advantage?" said Jesse.

Blaze was now fired up and added her opinion. "Use it to our advantage, yes. Get us all killed, no. Next time you do something like this let us help you plan it."

"Sure.", he said knowing that he'd lost that argument.

* * *

Jesse had been taught by Zero all about the transporters and Dimensional Area generators since they'd met, so the boy was able to fulfill his half of the agreement easily enough.

Forte wasn't happy working with humans, but it did give him access to the generators that he desired. Which really came as a relief when he destroyed Allegro right in front of the NetSaviors.

Less than a week later Forte had another base of operations up and running. Giving Jesse and Zero anything that they required the duo quickly created a second Synchro-chip and the Dimensional Area generators.

Blaze and Hinata moved some of the equipment to another facility that Forte didn't know or really care about. It was an abandoned chip factory that had been closed down due to previous owners having gone bankrupt when World Three terrorized businesses for money and supporters.

The black navi was aware that Jesse and Hinata had created a second base for their own operations, but he never sought it out. In his mind they were simply prepared in case the NetSaviors found his factory. With a smile he looked down to the area below where forty Dimensional Area generators had been finished. The first contract on both ends had been fulfilled.

* * *

During Dr. Regal's rampage as CF Laserman Hinata and Jesse decided to test their abilities in Crossfusion.

Hinata and Blaze were the first to go. The reason for this was that Jesse wanted to monitor the readings to make sure that the chip was functioning correctly and at its peak efficiency.

She raised her hands and followed the motions that the NetSaviors always used. "Synchro-chip in, Download! Begin Crossfusion."

The PET vanished in a shower of pixels and swarmed Hinata's body. Her hands were covered with red gloves that had a blue diamond on the back and yellow feathers coming out of the wrist. Yellow boots covered her feet while the red and yellow body suite encased the rest of Hinata's body. Two huge wings emerged from her back as tail feathers come out of her lower back. A five point yellow star with a red circle around it and an upside down black pentagon in the center formed in front of her and attached itself to her chest. Finally her hair lengthened to her lower back and the helmet formed. The helmet was red and had three feathers coming from the center above the eyes.

After the light died down and Jesse looked the Crossfusion over he turned his attention to the readings. "Zero do you see anything off?" asked the boy.

"No. It looks like it worked. They have a high sychro-rating and no abnormalities detected." answered the red navi. He was proud that he'd taught his NetOp so well about fighting and the technology from his world. _"Now all he has to do is develop the same confidence in his fighting abilities."_ he thought.

"Hinata try using Blaze's special attacks on those barrels." said Jesse.

"Right." This was the moment she'd been waiting for.

"Let's show them what we're made of." said the fire navi. She loved being a phoenix-based navi and was pleased with immunity to certain elements. Before being wished into a navi Blaze had been an ice base Cyber-Elf and now that she was a navi she was immune to fire as well.

"Comet Storm!" shouted Hinata unleashing a volley of comet-shape projectiles from her two guns. Every one of the targets was destroyed and Hinata had a pleased look on her face.

Once Zero and Jesse had collected all of the data they prepared to enter Crossfusion. "What's it feel like?" asked Jesse.

His long time friend looked at him with starry eyes and said, "It's incredible. I don't know how to describe it, but I'll try." She thought for a few minutes trying to think of just how to phrase the experience. Finally she said, "It's like being reborn, I guess. But as a stronger, faster, more agile version of yourself."

That was the final straw. Zero watched his NetOp look to him for his approval. He nodded and prepared himself as best he could for what was to follow.

"Synchro-chip in, Download! Begin Crossfusion.", said both in unison. Jesse felt immense power flood into his body as Zero's red boots covered his feet and red gauntlets covered his forearms. The red vest materialized around his body and constricted snuggly around his upper body. The Z icon formed in front of Jesse and attached itself to his chest before the black bodysuit covered the rest of his body. Zero's helmet materialized over his head and his brown hair lengthened to his lower back before being tied in place in a ponytail.

Finally both kids stood in Crossfusion with their respective navis. It was a new and empowering feeling for all four people.

"Whatcha think?" asked Blaze. She knew what the other two must've been feeling.

Jesse smiled and said, "It's even better than either of you described." He experimentally flexed his gloved hand feeling his and Zero's combined strength.

Zero felt strange being joined together with Jesse and being able to see through his eyes. Now Jess would have to carry his own weight and Zero felt certain that he could do it. _"…Or at least he better be able to. I didn't train him that hard for nothing."_, he thought.

"Now what will we do? We've got a home, Synchro-chips, and a base of operations. What's our next move?" asked Zero. He'd helped Jesse and Hinata this far because he cared about them, but now he wanted to know what they would do with the power that they'd gained. He felt certain that Jesse wouldn't turn 'to the dark side', but he still wanted to know.

"Well I can't speak for Blaze and Hinata, but…I want to help deal with Duo's Asteroid navis that are coming." said Jesse. He hated the 'The Ultimate Judge of Light' every since he'd first seen him and striking down the Asteroid navis was his way of telling Duo just that.

Zero and Blaze had been told of Duo's coming and they both agreed that they would fight against the alien navi even if their NetOps didn't. Both navis and Jesse turned to Hinata for her answer. "What? You know I'm onboard."

In the coming weeks the 'fun' would begin and they had to be prepared. Duo maybe egotistical, but he was extremely powerful. It would certainly be a test of their combined strength.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 3

Two weeks after the successful Crossfusion Hinata was traveling through the mall on another one of her mass shopping sprees. She and Blaze had already hit three of the malls in Densan and had two left. It was a gamble whether or not they'd be able to make it given the amount of money she'd saved and the number of store left to cruise.

She made her way to the center of the mall and stared at the huge water fountain. The pool took up most of the lobby area and the fountain itself was atleast three stories tall. There were two beautiful robbed angels standing in the center of the monument with water spraying out of their mouths. All along the rim of the fountain were more facets spraying water towards the center at an angle. The water had multi-colored lights shining in it and was constantly changing.

"Well Blaze, whatcha think? Should we hit those other stores or go and see if we can bring Igor and Dr. Frankenstein out of that lab?" asked Hinata. Since the Crossfusion Jesse and Zero had holed up inside of the abandoned chip factory. Neither one would say what they were working on, but Blaze and Hinata figured that it nothing good. Last time those two had worked together so intently on something Hinata's skin had been turned purple for eight days, so the duo would have to watch the other two very closely or else.

The phoenix navi looked up from her NetOp's shoulder and said, "Let's finish shopping. I seriously doubt that Zero and Jesse would direct a second prank at you so soon after the last one. They're both to cautious for that."

"Yeah I guess that you are right. Still I can't help but wonder what they are up to." The teen continued looking through the mall selecting her new wardrobe and looking at all of the deals. "I should just enjoy myself today and forget all about Jesse and Zero."

"That's the spirit," said Blaze before she pointed to a large, flashy store. "We haven't hit that one yet. Let's go there next." Blaze logged into the store's Home Page while her NetOp entered the store in the human world.

* * *

Princess Pride was enjoying her visit to Densan after the conflict with Nebula was finally brought to an end. She had contributed large amounts of zenny to repairing the damage caused by Dr. Regal and Laserman. 

The Princess had visited a number of the sites for victims directly affected by the mad doctor's rampage and her heart went out to them. The soldier currently escorting her around was from Sharro and he was named Laika. He was silent and had a piercing gaze that made her feel as though he could see right down into her very soul.

The Princess was at the mall negotiating with business owners getting them to donate food and clothing to those that had lost everything. Ordinarily she'd love to be visiting the mall for her own personal shopping since she was never allowed to do so because of her royalty status. Despite her reasons for being there she'd spotted several outfits and shoes that she'd have to come back for. _"I wonder if Netto would be willing to lend a hand there,"_ she thought.

Laika watched Princess Pride conclude another negotiation with the business owner donating a large amount of clothing to the cause. The soldier had to admit that he was impressed with Pride's skill at the negotiating table. "Let's go Princess. We've still got other business owners to speak to and not much time before you must return to your hotel room."

Pride looked away sadly knowing that he was right. _"I'm definitely speaking with Netto. He'll help me get out of there and let me just walk around as a normal teen. I envy him at times."_ The Princess looked to her escort and smiled. "Just one more before we head back. The last one on my list imports a large supply of food from Creamland, so I'm sure that we can count on his support."

Laika looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "He's from Creamland isn't he?"

Pride nodded and said, "He arrived here about a year ago and I met him when…I was being escorted around the city."

Laika smirked and stopped his charge. "What you mean to say is 'when you ditched your bodyguards and had some teenager show you around'. Isn't that right Princess?"

Pride knew that she'd been caught, but thankfully nobody realized that it was Netto that she'd been traveling with. She had talk to Netto after and learned that he'd made sure that his friends remained tightlipped about their adventure together. She knew that she still had feelings for Netto and that Meiru was her only real competition. _"If only I could get Netto to move to Creamland. Maybe Yuuichiro could have an offer made to him by Creamland's scientific community? I'll have to be extremely careful or daddy will realize why I want the Hikari's to move to our country."_

The Princess was jarred from her thoughts when a large, bulky punk ran into her. "You should watch where you are going lady," he said sneering at her.

Laika moved in front of Pride and said, "Unless my eyesight has diminished in the last five minutes, it was you that ran into her. I think that you should apologize to the lady and then get lost."

The punk had a huge vain pop out of his forehead. "What did you say to me you little brat?"

"I didn't stutter, but I'll repeat it nice and slow so that even you can understand. You ran into her and you should apologize to her before getting out of my sight." He said the last part very slow and kept his eyes locked on the thug waiting for him to strike.

"Punkman, Jack In! Power Up!" The thug had a nasty smile on his face and then looked back at Laika. "Me and you, right now."

"Fine with me. Searchman, Jack In! Power Up!" The military navi logged into the mall's cyber world and looked over his opponent. From what Searchman saw he couldn't help but think to himself, _"Like NetOp, like Navi."_

Both the brute and his navi were large and obviously very stupid. Before they could fight another navi showed up. "Who are you?" demanded Punkman.

Searchman simply looked at the newcomer and said, "Leave, I can handle this alone."

The female navi glared at the military navi and replied, "I'm sure that you can, but I had thought that I had taught this clown a lesson the other day. I guess I have to repeat that lesson for the slow learners like them."

Punkman and his NetOp realized just who the navi was and whom her NetOp was. _"Oh Great! That psycho chick again."_

The female navi raised her guns and shouted, "Comet Storm!" The comet shaped projectiles all hit their mark. The bulky navi collapsed on both knees and tried to get back up. "Behave or next time it's deletion."

Searchman and Laika had missed the threat, but they felt their pride wounded from being beaten to the punch by a girl. "How about you and I have a friendly spar right here and now." suggested the green navi.

"Sure and my name is Blaze. Don't forget it," she said dropping into an offensive stance.

By now a number of spectators had gathered to watch a NetSavior navi fight against a civilian navi. A few had started taking bets on which one would win the fight and so far it was divided. Those that knew Blaze knew that she was one tough navi, but they couldn't count the NetSavior out yet.

"The name is Searchman and don't forget mine either." The Sharro navi pulled out his 'Scope Gun' and aimed it at Blaze, but it was too late as she had taken to the sky and flew behind some signs. "Running already." Searchman called out tauntingly.

"Hardly," was the response that he got before getting showered by a swarm of bullets. Searchman was quick to dodge behind the cover of a nearby pillar and started scanning for the other navi's signature.

Searchman turned around and found that somehow Blaze had moved in behind him. He ducked as another round of bullets flew his way. Looking back to where he'd been he saw that the bullets hit exactly where his head would've been. _"This girl is serious. She's already going for deletion. I guess that I can't hold back either."_ He jumped out from behind his cover and fired four shots at Blaze.

The Phoenix navi laughed because all of the shots went right over her head, but she stopped when Searchman pointed up. Blaze glanced up and saw that he'd shot out the supports for the roof over her head. The ceiling collapsed on her leaving Searchman with a victorious smile.

"Well that was fun, but you shouldn't be so quick to delete," he said walking up to the rubble. Before reaching it the rubble exploded sending rock everywhere.

"I couldn't agree more, but I'm not finished yet." Blaze pulled out her Cyber Sword and flew at Searchman faster than he had anticipated. The Phoenix navi easily damaged tore into Searchman forcing him to logout. "Mess with the best, lose like the rest." She then logged out and went back to Hinata.

Pride looked at Laika and asked in shock, "What just happened?"

Laika stared at the screen of his PET for several minutes before he said, "Searchman was beaten…but how? She couldn't have been that strong."

* * *

In the clothing store Hinata tried on another pair of shoes and found them to her liking. When Blaze logged back into her PET she glanced over to the hologram on her shoulder. "So, did you have fun Blaze?" 

The Phoenix navi grinned from ear to ear before replying, "Oh yeah. The introduction to the NetSavior was very fun. So when do we start the opening act?"

Hinata sighed and answered, "Well that depends on the 'high and mighty' Duo. As soon as that creep shows his face we can start making our counter moves." She had an annoyed look on her face and she added, "For now it's just a waiting game."

"I understand. Let's continue to train for the coming battles once we get back." suggested Blaze. She knew that their current skill level wouldn't keep them alive for long given Duo's obvious power and resources.

"Agreed. We'll double our training for the next few months until Duo finally shows his face and then we'll adjust our schedule depending on how much we are lacking against his Asteroid navi's," said the teen as she picked up the five pairs of shoes that she desired. The brunette couldn't help chuckling when she thought back to the look that Zero and Jesse had on their faces the last time she bought this many shoes and clothes. She'd told both of them that 'a girl can never have too many shoes'.

* * *

Laika and Searchman talked with several nearby navis in the mall's Cyber World trying to find information on the navi that had defeated them. Most of the merchants refused to say anything unless it was official police business. Laika knew that he couldn't abuse his power like that, so Searchman was forced to ask Punkman and other civilian navis. 

Punkman refused to speak and quickly ran back to his NetOp. Most of the other navis that the military navi asked either didn't know the Phoenix navi or just didn't want to say anything. It seemed as though she had quite a reputation of helping NetNavis and being a tough fighter.

"Searchman, call it a night. We have to get Pride back to her hotel," said Laika. He didn't like the idea of leaving with information on such a skilled NetOp and NetNavi, but he did have his orders.

"Yes, Laika," answered Searchman before logging out of the Cyber World.

* * *

Later on that night when the duo got home they found Jesse and Zero waiting for them with their foster parents. The look on Jesse's face told her that something was up and that she probably wasn't going to like it. _"Then again he usually has that look on his face when he has to put on the innocent act."_ Deciding to go ahead and get it over with Hinata asked, "Alright, so who died?" 

Sasuke was standing behind Jesse and Ayame was sitting at the dinning room table. Sasuke looked amused, but he didn't allow himself to grin at the statement. He motioned for his daughter to sit down and she did. "Jesse, Hinata…we are transferring you two to a public school."

"Any reason in particular?" Jesse knew that they had to have been talking about this for some time and didn't like that he didn't see it coming.

Ayame locked eyes with her son and said, "It's just that you two don't seem to get along with others and you have very few friends. I know that you both lost your parents, but I'd like to see you open up to others."

Their father didn't miss the beat and joined in adding, "We're just trying to do what's best for the two of you. You need more friends than just each other and your navis."

Both teens were thinking, _"I've got a really bad feeling about this."_ Their navis were not doing much better, but they did hide their reactions a lot better.

Hinata released her grip on her sixteen shopping bags and then asked the big question that she was sure that her brother was wondering too, "When do we started? And where is it going to be at?"

Ayame smiled thinking that their kids were accepting the idea better than she had expected and answered, "The two of you start at your new school tomorrow and I can't remember the exact name of it, so I can't answer the last one."

"Mom's as forgetful as ever I see." Jesse and Sasuke grinned at the flustered look on Ayame's face. He knew that she was horrible when it came to remembering names.

* * *

Jesse was in his room getting ready for bed and he asked Zero, "How close do you think that we are to the results that we want?" 

The red navi considered their earlier experiments that day before replying, "I think that the answer is right in front of us. We just need a little bit more patience and then we'll have it."

The brunette chuckled and said, "Hinata's going to kill me for keeping her in the dark about this."

"True, but this little project will give us quite the edge against the NetSaviors if they interfere as well as put us on a somewhat even standing with Duo." Zero knew how invaluable this project could be if they could only just complete it.

Jesse sighed and said, "Every test so far has ended in the test subject's body breaking down on the molecular level and leaving behind a pile of goo."

"What do you expect with the capabilities you have in mind? Something like this isn't going to be easy to whip up even with my help. Ciel could have finished this project by herself easily, but we don't have her with us. Jess take it one step at a time and we'll succeed." Zero knew that his NetOp was getting frustrated with the lack of results despite how close they were. This experiment had been in the works since before they'd actually Crossfused for the first time. With them this close Zero couldn't allow Jesse's impatience to get the better of him. _"I'll have to work in a few additional exercises into Jesse's training to teach him patience,"_ thought Zero.

The teen nodded knowing that his navi was right, but it still wasn't easy. When he got this close to a goal patience always went right out of the window. He was grateful that he had someone like Zero to keep him on track. "I'll try Zero, but let's atleast try to have this ready for when Duo makes his grand entrance."

The red navi chuckled and said, "I can't make any promises there, but I'll give it everything that I've got. I expect you to do the same."

"I will. Once we're finished with this I'm going to test it immediately." Jesse knew that he was getting ahead of himself.

Zero held up a hand to silence his NetOp and then said, "We'll test it after I've run it through the simulations numerous times. I don't want anything to happen to you. Like I've always said, 'I fight for those that I care about'. Even if in this case I have to fight to protect you from yourself."

"Thanks Zero. Gotta have somebody to keep me focused on the goal." After that Jesse put Zero's PET on the charger and went to sleep.

Blaze and Hinata had heard everything from the door and now they were worried. They knew that their brothers were up to something big and part of them couldn't help feeling hurt that they were not told of this project…whatever it was.

Blaze looked to her operator and said, "We'll have to keep a close eye on them." Hinata quickly agreed and they went to their room.

* * *

The next day the two teens were dropped off at their new school by Sasuke on his way to work. 

Jesse looked around and then turned to his sister. "This place is eerily familiar. I just place where I've seen it before."

Hinata on the other hand was praying that she was wrong about where they were. They entered the building and spoke with the administration. It seemed that Sasuke and Ayame had specifically requested that they both be put in the same classes.

The receptionist looked like someone's grandmother and she was very polite. She quickly led them to their new homeroom and stopped them at the door. "You two wait right here while I talk to the teacher," she said before entering the room.

Several minutes passed before the receptionist came back out and motioned for them to come in. The first person that they both saw was…MARIKO! _"Oh you have got to be kidding me,"_ they both thought. Looking around the room they saw Yaito, Dekao, Meiru, and finally…Netto. It seemed that fate had a very cruel sense of humor.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 4

As Jesse stared at Netto he couldn't stop his left from twitching. Hinata concealed her reaction much better than her 'brother' while Blaze just watched with amusement.

Mariko smiled cheerfully at her new students and walked over to them. "Welcome to my class. I hope that you two will get along well with the other students and do well in your assignments."

Zero big back a smirk knowing that his NetOp was not likely to get along too well with others. The red navi couldn't say much though since he was the same way. During the Maverick and Elf wars the only two that he ever really worked well with was X and Axl. It still greatly saddened him that Axl had just disappeared without a trace between the two major wars.

Hinata elbowed Jess in the stomach when he didn't respond to Mariko. "You'll have to forgive him. He's not a people person and neither is his navi," she said.

A huge smile broke out on Dekao's face when he heard that this kid had his own navi. _"Maybe he'd loosen up if we NetBattled?"_ The large teen said, "Hey would you like to NetBattle sometime? Gutsman and I could use some competition."

Jesse replied in a neutral tone, "I don't fight weaklings."

The operator of Gutsman was seeing red new and started to crack his knuckles. _"This guy is just like Enzan. Gutsman and I will mop the floor with him."_

Netto and Rockman also had a feeling of déjà vu. It was clear that a fight was just moments away from breaking out between the two kids.

Yaito and Glyde ignored Jesse and focused on the other new student. Yai was certain that she would be fun to be around assuming she didn't act like the new guy.

Mariko turned to her old student and said, "Dekao sit down." She then turned to Jesse and said, "Please try to be nice. I've heard from your father that you are anti-social, but that was completely unnecessary."

Jesse didn't even flinch at her scolding. Zero wasn't surprised since he had scolded his NetOp numerous times from not paying attention during their training sessions. Of course when Jesse didn't pay attention he also get whacked around a few times by Zero before the red navi would relent.

Hinata elbowed her sibling in the side again and turned to their new teacher. "I'll work with him on that. He'll behave from now on…Won't you Jesse."

The boy knew that his sister was just daring him to say to no or disagree in some other form. He just smiled and said, "I'll be nice." Zero smirked from inside of his PET knowing that that translated into 'I'll be nice in front of you, but watch out when you turn your back'.

Mariko was pleased and said, "Alright I'd like for you to introduce yourself and then I'll assign you your seats."

Hinata went first being the more sociable of the two. "My name is Hinata Hoshi and my navi's name is Blaze. I like sparring and a good NetBattle. I hate loud mouths (Netto lowered his head) and bullies (Dekao groaned)."

Jesse rolled his eyes when everyone was focused on his sister and finally introduced himself. "My name is Jesse O'Neil and my navi's name is Zero."

"_This is going to be one of those days,"_ thought Mariko after hearing Jess's short response. "Ok Hinata I want you to take the empty seat behind Dekao and Jesse you take the empty seat behind Netto." She felt some measure of relief when she saw the boy's eyes widen slightly. _"Hopefully Netto can get through to this one."_

Both students went to their seats and jacked their navis into the school's computer. Zero and Blaze saw the Cyber World classroom and took the seats that corresponded to their NetOp's in the real world.

Rockman turned around and greeted Zero. "Hi I'm Rockman. Nice to meet you Zero."

Zero gave a grunt in response, but said nothing. His attention was turned to Gutsman and he grinned. He planned to put the large navi in his place just like he did with Copy X, Dr. Weil, and Omega.

* * *

After school Zero and Jesse waited at the main entrance. Sure enough Dekao exited the door and started searching the crowd to find his target. When the larger kid found Jess he walked over to him and said, "You and me, right now."

The brunette didn't blink and just pulled out his PET. Netto and his friends walked up just in time to see the PET and were surprised. They'd never seen one like this and were curious as to where it came from.

"_Saito have you ever seen a PET like that before?"_

The blue navi looked at his sibling and mentally replied, **_"No I haven't. It could be a custom built PET, but…"_**

"_But what?"_

"**_It seems to be too well built to be a custom job. From the looks of it I'd say that it was factory made, but it couldn't be. I know all of the current models and some of the ones that are being developed right now. It's possible that his father made it or some friend of his."_ **Rockman couldn't be sure, but the PET looked like it had a lot more power than the PET Netto used and his was a custom model developed by Yuuichiro.

Jesse and Dekao stood in front of each other just stared each other down. Finally Dekao flinched and directed his PET towards an outdoors NetBattle console. "Jack In, Gutsman! Power Up!"

Without missing a beat Jesse did the same. "Jack In, Zero! Power Up!"

Zero and Gutsman mimicked their NetOp's behavior and glared at each other. The large navi had a hard time not looking away from Zero's piercing gaze. The former Hunter knew that he could easily take this guy down, but he wasn't interested in Gutsman and neither was Jesse.

"Gutsman teach cheeky little navi a lesson." The large navi readied himself to attack when Rockman, Roll, and Glyde logged into the system.

Rockman quickly ran up to his friend and said, "Don't do it Gutsman. I have bad feeling about this guy."

Dekao's navi looked at the blue bomber and said, "Gutsman not afraid of little runt."

Zero finally smiled seeing that Rockman had taken the bait. He wanted to test himself against a real warrior navi, not some wannabe with a low IQ. "About you time you showed up Rockman. Let's fight."

The blue navi turned to Zero and looked him over. Everything about the red navi screamed that he could delete Gutsman in less than a second and that he probably would.

Dekao and his navi heard Zero and felt outraged that they were viewed as child's play. "Gutsman get him. Show him who the weak one is around here."

"GutsPunch," he shouted charging at Zero.

Roll shouted, "No, don't do it."

Glyde was uncertain what he should do and just watched in curiosity. Rockman chased after Gutsman to stop him, but it was already too late. The larger navi already had a good head start.

Netto thought that it was strange that Zero didn't even glance away from Rockman. _"This guy's insane. Gutsman might not be the toughest navi around, but just letting him hit you like that will take a huge chunk of hit points."_

Roll and Glyde saw their friend about to reach Zero and Roll buried her head on Glyde's shoulder. "I can't look," she said. Next thing she heard was a loud thunk. Slowly she looked up to see the butler navi's mouth hanging wide open. Wanting to know what caused that reaction she turned around and quickly mimicked Glyde.

Zero had caught Gutsman's punch with just one hand. What was more shocking was that he wasn't putting much effort into holding off the attack. Taking his eyes off of Rockman he locked a glare on his would be attacker. "…Not interested in a warm up." Quicker than anyone could follow Zero jumped up connecting his knee with the giant's mouth sending him flying towards Roll and Glyde.

Everyone except for Zero and his NetOp looked on in shock. Never had anyone seen such a display of power and speed…at least not at a school.

"_Rockman I think that you are right about Jesse and his navi. Your feeling was right on the mark."_

"_**I told you that something felt wrong about them. I know that you are going to think that this is insane to ask, but…do you think that we should fight them?"**_

"_We don't really have much of a choice. We have to return the favor of Zero crushing our friend."_

Rockman knew that this had become a matter of honor to Netto. The teen wouldn't let anyone trash his friends like this and get away with it. That didn't mean that he would reckless though. "Fine. I'll be your next opponent."

Jesse smiled and thought to himself, _"Those two have no idea what they've just got themselves into. Zero isn't like other navis, he's a highly trained soldier. He's survived the Maverick Wars, the Elf Wars, and the War against Neo Arcadia."

* * *

_

Hinata finally walked outside and saw a gathering of students. "I wonder what's going on Blaze," she said to her navi.

The Phoenix navi had a feeling that she knew what it was and said, "Hinata, where is Zero and Jesse?"

The young girl's eyes widened and she started pushing her way through the crowd. Sure enough Jesse had apparently started a fight with Netto. "I'm gonna kill Jesse. Wasn't he the one that said that we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves?"

Blaze nodded and said, "He did, but I don't think that this was something that he planned. My guess would be that Zero wanted this."

The NetOp knew that her navi was right. Zero was well known for seeking out powerful navis and fighting them to see where he stood. _"Then again this could be Zero's training starting to affect Jesse. It's not uncommon for a student to pickup character traits from their teacher."

* * *

_

Netto and Rockman readied themselves for an intense battle. Both watched Zero for any indication of where and how he'd attack.

Jesse watched knowing that Zero could be extremely patient in combat. It was obvious that his navi wasn't going to make the first move.

Finally after ten minutes of waiting…Rockman snapped and opened fire with his 'Rockbuster'. What he didn't expect was for Zero to easily dodge every one of them. _"There was an afterimage when he dodged. He didn't teleport, that's pure speed."_ The blue navi said to his little brother, "I need a battlechip Netto."

"Right. I'm on it." Netto pulled out his pouch of battlechips and selected one for the occasion. "Vulcan, Battlechip In! Download!"

Rockman's arm turned into a three barreled gun and his showered the area Zero was standing in.

"Area Steal, Battlechip In! Download!" Jesse watched as the former Reploid vanished from sight and reappeared right above Rockman.

"Z-Saber!" Zero brought his sword down slicing Rockman's gun in half.

The blue navi was thankful that his opponent hadn't cut further up or else Rockman would've lost a hand. "Rockbuster," he shouted releasing a volley of energy shots.

Jesse and his navi grinned knowing what would happen next. Zero deflected the shots using his sword…right back at Rockman.

The blue navi hadn't been expecting this and was struck with three of his own attacks. _"Note to self: Don't use energy projectiles against this guy."_

Zero could tell that his opponent was still capable of fighting, but what made him angry was that Rockman hadn't gone all out. The former Reploid was well aware of Rockman's Double Soul abilities and Program Advances. Without intending it the blue navi had seriously insulted Zero.

Glyde and Roll had finally manage to wake Gutsman after he almost landed on them. Roll was really starting to worry about _her_ Rockman after Zero's counter attack.

Gutsman looked at the scene and muttered, "He's a strong chibi." Gutsman unfortunately was loud enough that everyone heard him.

Jesse's eyes bugged out and he looked down at Zero on his screen. He could see that his navi had his hand in a tight fist that could have crushed bone into a fine dust. _"Oh shit!"_ He quickly pointed his PET at the terminal and tried to extract Zero, but the navi was too quick.

Zero gracefully dodged the attempt to recall him to the PET and turned the mother of all glares towards Gutsman.

Everyone of the navis present could feel the lethal intent that Zero was projecting in his aura. Even the humans in the real world backed away quickly.

Zero finally growled each word slowly, "Nobody calls me a chibi…and gets away with it." The red navi used his dash ability to go flying at Gutsman with his Z-Saber still drawn.

Gutsman knew that he was about to be deleted and started trying to run away, but Zero quickly made it in front of the large navi. "Gutsman sorry. Gutsman didn't mean it."

Fortunately Jesse had predicted Zero's move in advance and had locked onto that location. He quickly logged Zero out and muted the PET as his navi let loose with a long list of curses in multiple languages. Jesse knew that he'd have to wait until Zero calmed down before talking with him. "I guess that we'll have to finish this later Netto…and next time don't hold back." Afterwards Jesse disappeared before anyone could ask what had just happened.

Hinata and Blaze were still watching the monitor where their friend had just been with their mouths gaping open. Both of them knew that it was suicide to call Zero a chibi and recent events had just proven that. Hinata looked at her PET and said, "We better go give Jesse a hand talking Zero down before he deletes somebody." Blaze just nodded her head furiously knowing that the alternative wouldn't be pretty.

* * *

Three hours later Jesse had managed to downgrade Zero's emotional status from 'homicidal navi' to 'grouchy navi'. Hinata had suggested that they turn Zero loose in the Ura Net and it had been very helpful in calming the angry navi.

Jesse finally asked, "Z…do you feel like talking now?"

The red navi nodded and turned to look at his operator. "I am sorry about losing my cool. I know that you didn't want to have a rep of owning an insane, short tempered navi."

The brunette shook his head and replied, "First of all I don't own you. You are an equal, not a possession. Secondly, I've never really cared what other people think of me." He sighed and added, "We are going to have to work on that temper of yours though. At the very least we need to make sure that you don't delete someone for calling you a chibi."

Zero growled and cracked the bones in his hand. "I'm a warrior, not some cute little…CHIBI! I demand more respect than that."

Jesse noted the way Zero had said chibi as though it was the vilest word on the planet. "Don't worry about today. We'll just had to add a segment to our training that focuses on your violent, homicidal reactions to being called chibi."

The former Hunter agreed hating that he almost always lost it when called that 'evil' word. The first time that it had happened was when Popia Cocapetri had called him chibi. Zero had combined his charged Buster Shot with his fire element EX Skill Burning Shot. He roasted that bird and then sliced the remains into tiny pieces.

Deciding to take his mind off of the matter he suggested that they resume work on Jesse's special project. Jesse immediately answered, "Sure. The sooner that it's complete, the happier I'll be."

* * *

Outside of the door to Jesse's bedroom Hinata and Blaze were eavesdropping. They were concerned with the two boys and this 'big project' that they had been working on. So far they hadn't even dropped a hint as to what it was or how it could be helpful in the future.

"Ugh…I want to know what they are working on," growled Hinata. She had patience, but even she had her limits.

* * *

When Zero and his operator made it to Forte's new base of operations they quickly entered the facility and sought out the dark navi. They headed for the security control room for the abandoned factory. "You know it's amazing how sloppy these people are. You'd think that they wouldn't leave production equipment like this in abandoned facilities."

Zero had to nod in agreement even though he'd seen similar examples of such carelessness with Neo Arcadia. Sitting on his NetOp's shoulder he said, "Most likely they thought that the factory could be restarted at a later date and they didn't want to move all of this equipment. There's also the possibility that ownership is tied up in the legal system right now." He sighed and added, "In any case we should be greatful for these oversights."

"All of this equipment is outdated and that is the reason why you humans don't bother to salvage any of it." said a voice from behind.

Jesse turned around to see that the Shuryou robot had slipped up on him during his wanderings. "It's still incredibly stupid of them."

Forte nodded in agreement, then again he thought that all humans were weak and stupid. "What have you come here for," he asked.

The boy kept walking and said, "I wanted to ask you teach Zero something."

The dark navi was suddenly very intrigued. "And what exactly would like for me to teach him? How to hate humans? Well that's very simple, you just-"

Jesse interrupted saying, "No, not that." He sighed knowing that Forte still had 'daddy issues' _"Thanks for your lovely screwup Dr. Cossack,"_ he thought bitterly. "Forte I just want you to teach Zero how to fly like you do without using wings or anything like that."

The black navi looked Zero over studying the red navi closely. "He needs to work on increasing his energy levels, but...it can be done. Now about your end of this arrangement, what have you got for me?"

"Sometime soon a powerful extraterrestrial navi named Duo will be coming to Earth. He views himself as a God and the 'Ultimate Judge of Light'. Dr. Regal's attacks not too long ago caught Duo's attention and now the oversized pest is on his way here. If he views a world as being to plagued by darkness he will destroy it, which includes the Cyber World. He's protected by a powerful navi named Slur. To get to him you'll have to get through her and I can tell you that you are going to lose that battle." Jesse stopped and looked at Forte. He could already see the hatred burning in those robotic eyes of his. "Don't worry about it too much. You'll make a comeback and the next time you'll win."

The dark navi allowed a sinister smile to cross his face. "And how am I going to win?"

Jesse shrugged and said, "After she hands you your ass she's going to banish you to the Ura Net. You'll be there a while, but you'll eventually encounter a giant purple mist and a familiar laugh. Just follow the person in that mist and it'll lead you to a creature called 'Nebula Grey'. After it's beaten by you and Rockman get rid of the blue twerp and absorb it's data. That will give you a huge power boost that will allow you to destroy Slur."

"And what of Duo," inquired the human hating navi.

Jesse stopped and turned around slowly. "I don't think that even Nebula Grey would allow you to fight Duo and win. He's got all that power flowing into him from his comet, I don't think that that's going to be something that we can easily counter." It was a dilemma that he'd been trying to solve ever since he came to this world, but so far everything that he came up with was a failure. "Don't worry, I'm working on that part now. Just give me a little time."

"_I have to lose this fight in order to gain power. What a ridiculous way to go."_ Forte went to work teaching Zero the basics for flight using his power. Zero caught on quickly enough, but he was limited by the energy that his body possessed.

So far they'd be training for four weeks, but unlike Forte Zero's body hadn't adapted to using large amounts of energy for the purpose of flight. It was like trying to develop a muscle that had never been used before. It left the red navi quickly exhausted, but Forte kept pushing Zero to his limits. The red eyed navi never liked that Zero cared so much for his NetOp, but he did respect Zero as one fighter to another.

Out in the human world Jesse continued his project knowing that it would give him an edge against Asteroid navis and in the event that he had to fight against the NetSaviors. Jess was startled out of his musings by the alarms going off. "Forte, Zero we've got an intruder."

Both navis ended their training session for the day and logged out of the Cyber World. Zero returned to his PET while Forte took over the Shuryou robot again. The robot walked over to the main security console and pressed several buttons to locate the intruder. "Found them! Just one person and they are in Area C-1."

Jesse used the security cameras in that area to locate the intruder. "You know if this is the NetSaviors we're screwed."

"Oh ye of little faith. I can handle NetSaviors," replied Forte. He'd simply kill them if he felt like it and usually he did. He had already learned that both Zero and Jesse shied away from killing, be it human or navi unless the situation required it. The two didn't like to dirty their hands without good, justifiable reason.

The main monitor popped up and displayed the intruder. Jesse's eyes widened as did Zero's. The human looked towards his navi and asked, "Is that who I think that is?"

Zero nodded and made some sound that Forte and Jesse assumed was a yes. _"How did our little intruder get here I wonder."_ He smiled and said, "Well lets go greet our guest."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 5

The trio made their way to the area where the intruder had been confined by sealing the doors shut. Forte wasn't sure who they were dealing with, but Zero and Jesse seemed to have a very good idea.

When they reached the locked door nearest their 'guest' Jesse went over to the lock and disabled it. "Well Zero, here we go." The door opened and they slowly entered the room.

Once inside Jesse couldn't find the intruder, so they all started to look around. Jesse made it as far as the third door when a vase was smashed into his head. It wasn't heavy enough to knock him out, but it was enough to leave a large knot on the top of his head.

The intruder immediately grabbed a board and stated demanding, "Who are you? Where's my Zero-chan?"

"Ouch! Lady, what was that for?" Jesse was not amused even though Forte obviously was. The dark navi had a slight twitch of the mouth of his robotic body. The boy settled for glaring at the woman.

Zero appeared on Jesse's shoulder with a look of disapproval on his face. "Was that really necessary….Ciel?"

The blonde human saw Zero on the brunette's shoulder and her eyes widened. She couldn't understand why she was seeing her savior and friend as a tiny hologram. _"This boy must've reprogrammed Zero or did something else horrible to him."_ She pointed her finger at Jesse and said, "What did you to do Zero's body?"

Jesse chose to ignore her question and just continue to glare at her. Zero knew that his NetOp would be sore about this one for a couple of days especially since he'd let his guard down just before the attack.

Forte excused himself after Zero told him that Ciel wasn't a threat, but in fact an old friend. The dark navi smirked when he heard the boy scoff at Zero's assessment.

"It's good to see you again Ciel," said Zero.

The young scientist smiled and replied, "It's good to see you again too Zero, but where's your body? Where can I only see a hologram?"

Zero sighed and explained to her what had happened since Ragnarok. "…so that's basically it. I'm Jesse's NetNavi now and I've been helping him ever since."

Ciel nodded in understanding and looked at the brunette that she now knew as Jesse O'Neil. Extending her hand she said, "I'm sorry about, you know, the vase. I thought that you had done something horrible to Zero."

Cautiously taking her hand only for Zero's sake Jesse forced himself to accept the apology. "Sure, but you must know that nobody to forcibly control Zero for long. If that had been the case he would've already broken free and come after me for retribution."

The young scientist nodded in agreement knowing how head strong Zero usually was. She glanced at the PET that contained the digitized Zero and asked the red navi, "Has he been treating you well? If not just say the word and I'll make him regret it."

"_Jeez this woman is defensive…and violent. I'd expect something like that from Zero, but not from her."_ Jesse led Ciel into the main lab at Forte's complex and set the PET on the table.

Zero appeared over the 'Link PET' and said, "Ciel trust me, Jesse's been the best NetOp that I could ask for. He used to be difficult when it came to training him in swordsmanship, but I finally got him past that point."

Ciel swore that she heard the boy mutter '…that's because I can't get away.' The scientist chuckled at that and shot Jess a sympathetic look. Ciel had handed Zero trainees before and they always found any excuse that they could to get out of training. Zero's methods were strict and usually very brutal especially for humans.

The former Reploid asked, "Ciel, why did you follow me here? More importantly, how did you follow me here?" These were questions that Zero already had a few theories about, but he wanted to hear it from his old friend.

"I asked the 'Mother Elf' to send me to wherever you were…so that I could bring you home," she answered.

Both of the former Resistance members saw the brunette tense up after hearing Ciel's intentions. They knew that the boy had become attached to Zero and didn't want to lose him.

The NetNavi looked at his operator and said, "I'm not going to abandon you now Jesse. I stick with my friends and I did agree to become your navi." He turned to Ciel and said, "I can't leave, but I would like to know how our world has been doing since my departure."

It was apparent that Zero had promised to remain this boy's navi most likely because he didn't think that there would be a way to return home. "I see…then I'm not going back either."

The legendary Reploid wasn't that surprised by Ciel. Zero sighed knowing that there was no talking her out of this, so he asked the next thing that came to mind. "How did you plan to go back anyway?" When he didn't get a response he looked at Ciel to see a familiar look on her face. "Ciel? Please tell me that you did think of how to get back."

She looked nervous and embarrassed, refusing to meet the navi's knowing eyes. "Well…I…I sorta thought about it." Ciel knew that Zero wasn't buying it when he crossed his arms. Breaking down she said, "Ok, fine. I admit it. I don't have a way back…yet. I didn't think about the return in so much detail as I'd planned to wing it."

Jesse finally reentered the conversation saying, "I'll leave you two alone. I'm going to go see if I can finish my project while you two catch up."

Ciel immediately asked, "What project? Perhaps I can be of assistance."

Zero smiled and pulled up the data that the PET contained on the project. "Here take a look. It's something that my operator cooked up, but it's taking so long to complete. I think that it would certainly give us an advantage over the competition and we would appreciate any help that you could render." He looked at his operator and said, "Isn't that right?"

The brunette swallowed his pride and said, "Yeah. Any help would be very welcome. Every simulation so far has ended with the test subject falling apart on the molecular level."

"I'll do what I can. I can already see several things that you've overlooked. They're small, but other than that this looks very promising," said Ciel as she reviewed the test results and other data.

* * *

At Sci-Labs Dr. Hikari had called for the three NetSaviors to come to his lab. The first to enter was his own son, Netto Hikari. Laika and Enzan entered behind the hyperactive brunette and wondered why all of them had been called.

"Dr. Hikari what's this all about?" Enzan looked behind the doctor at the monitors for some kind of hint, but found nothing.

Yuuichiro readjusted his glasses and motioned for the boys to take the seats in front of him. "Please be seated." Once the boys were seated he began to explain why they had been called. "As you three know Forte has somehow acquired more Dimensional Area generators and he's been using them. So far he's hit several facilities taking equipment, rare metal, and other materials. We don't know what he's up to, but the higher-ups want him stopped and the stolen property returned."

Laika nodded in understanding and said, "In other words it's a simple search and retrieve mission in addition to information seeking. I don't see why you need the three of us for this task."

The Vice President of IPC looked at the soldier and said, "Forte is a formidable navi. His powers have continued to increase and evolve at an alarming rate. The best that we could do in the past was fight him to a draw. Don't take him light or else you're dead."

Rockman and Netto both nodded in agreement as they recalled their battles with the super navi. Underestimating Forte was the quickest way to get yourself and those around you killed.

Searchman asked, "Rockman is he really that tough?"

The blue navi nodded and said, "He's by far the toughest opponent I've come across with the only exception being Gospel. Laserman and Dr. Regal was a walk in the park when compared to Forte." Rock was worried that the dark navi had become active again since his minor interference during Nebula's reign.

Laika knew that Netto's abilities had seriously increased since becoming a NetSavior and the fact that the boy was showing fear made the soldier nervous. _"For Netto to actually show fear this Forte must be really powerful,"_ he thought. "When do we begin Dr. Hikari?"

Yuuichiro replied, "There's an informant in Ura Net 3 that's offering us the information on Forte's location."

The young businessman of the group knew exactly what that meant. "At a price you mean," he finished.

Dr. Hikari nodded. "Yes sadly. The Commissioner has already approved a rather large sum for the information. You're to send your navi's there, get the information, and deal with Forte's operations in our world immediately."

The three boys replied, "Yes, sir."

Laika smirked seeing that he'd had some influence on Netto, but that smirk vanished when the soldier realized the Netto had just been mocking him.

* * *

In the lab Ciel was working on the project and was making good progress. Jesse and Zero had already come very far, but they had missed a few small things that had been the cause of the numerous failures. The blonde smiled to herself knowing that Zero had actually listened to her ranting about science.

The Shuryou robot reentered the room with Hinata in tow. The navi left the girl with Ciel and returned to planning for Duo's arrival and the power that he would gain from Nebula Grey.

Hinata recognized Ciel from the Rockman Zero games and was surprised to see her here. Jesse and Zero entered the room and stopped seeing the other brunette. "Hi sis. What's up?"

Blaze's operator stared at her brother before asking, "What is Ciel doing here? And what is she working on?"

The boy didn't want to tell his sis just yet. "Well Ciel came here after Zero, but it seems that she's going to be staying with us. You come up with the excuse, I'm not a convincing liar."

The other NetOp frowned and said, "I don't lie, I fib. It's like lying only classier." Blaze chuckled and watched as Jess got grilled. Hoshi then asked, "So what is she working on?"

The green-eyed boy knew that his sister wasn't going to let this go and he had to act fast. "Look I'll tell you once it's finished, but not before. It's something that I wanted to surprise you with."

The brown-eyed girl decided to let her adopted brother keep his secret for now. She could be patient and it wasn't like it was some urgent matter. Hinata didn't think that it was a prank since Ciel was working with Jesse. "So how long until it's done?"

Ciel stood up at that exact moment and said, "There, I'm done making the corrections."

Jesse and Zero smiled as they were both eager to taste the fruits of their hard work. The boy started a number of machines up and watched as they started processing the operations that he'd indicated. The estimated time for completion was twenty minutes. "Ok, while that's working we need to come up with something for Ciel. She's not going to live on the streets, so lets find here a place to live."

Zero said, "Why not let her live with us?" He wanted to keep his friends, new and old, close to himself.

Hinata agreed and said, "That's a good idea. Since she looks so much like a child we can just claim that she's our older sister or maybe a cousin."

"We were lucky that they believed that you and I are related. I still don't get how our parents could be that dense, but I'm not going to complain." The green-eye NetOp was sure that their adopted parents wouldn't buy that story, so he came up with another idea. "Why not just say that she lost her parents like us during Wily's reign?"

Ciel remembered Zero telling her about how they had made a life for themselves here. She didn't approve of their method, but she knew that they didn't have much choice. Nobody would have believed the truth anyway. "We'll I am only twenty-four even thought I look about seventeen, so either one will probably work. How did you guys end up looking like you are twelve or thirteen?"

Hinata glared at Jesse and the boy looked away with a guilty expression on his face. Ciel would have to find out about this and so she asked for details. By the time the Jesse and Hinata had finished the operation was five minutes away from completion. Ciel worked out a few theories about the unstable Dimensional Area and how it must've been responsible for turning them into children again.

Before they could talk more the DA generators started up and surrounded the factory with a familiar dome. Ciel was a little alarmed having never been inside of a Dimensional Area while the others were surprised that the generators had been activated.

"What's going on?" Hinata pulled her PET from her clip and readied her Synchro-chip. Either they had a serious threat or Forte had found out that Jesse wasn't a psychic. In both cases they were in trouble. Hinata noticed that her brother hadn't pulled out his Synchro-chip and she asked, "Why aren't you getting ready to Crossfuse?"

The other brunette answered, "Because I can't do that and transfer the data on the project into my PET. Zero get the transfer started and then delete all evidence while I take care of the evidence here." He pulled out some small explosive devices that he'd rigged just in case something went wrong. _"Good thing that Zero taught me how to make bombs too."_ He turned back to his sis and asked, "Can you stall who or whatever is attacking us?"

Hinata nodded and Crossfused before using 'Area Steal' to get outside of the building. Ciel asked, "What can I do?"

The boy answered, "Help me set these. Zero can remote detonate them once we're clear."

The blonde quickly went to work setting the small devices around the running machines. It wouldn't be good if someone got their hands on the technology that they were working with. It wasn't just from this world, but some from her's as well. _"No doubt Zerohadtaught his operator how to build this stuff."

* * *

_

Outside of the building Hinata flew overhead and saw viruses popping up all over the place, but that's not where her attention was focused. Near the entrance to the factory three familiar NetSaviors were closing in.

"Blaze get Jesse," said the girl. The navi quickly did as she was asked knowing that it would be nasty if the others were caught. "Jesse the NetSaviors are here and they are heading your way. GET OUT OF THERE!"

The green-eyed boy replied over the PET, "I can't. Zero's still transferring the data and the operation is almost done. Take a few shots at them and then bale. We'll be right behind you…and don't you get caught."

"Urgh…you stubborn… Blaze let's do like he says." Pulling out her guns the NetOp took aim at the approaching NetSaviors and fired several shots. Enzan was hit in the leg while Laika dodged them completely. Netto ended up buried under part the roof that he'd been standing under.

The brunette NetSavior quickly dug himself out of the rubble and said, "Laika go after whoever did that. I'll take care of Enzan and then join you inside."

Laika followed his instructions even thought they came from Netto and followed after Hinata.

Being able to fly made it easier for the girl to outrun Laika and soon she was on the other side of the Dimensional Area. She hid as best she could considering her wings were in the way and waited for Laika and Searchman to show up.

Netto had since pulled himself out of the remains of the ceiling and moved Enzan off to the side where he should be safe. He could tell that the Vice President was not happy about being hit because he'd let his guard down. "I'll be back as soon as we're done."

* * *

The indicators on the machine started going off indicating that the operation was complete. Jesse reached inside and pulled out a new Synchro-chip. "Perfect. This is going to make things very interesting."

-Thud-

"Hey is anyone in there. Open up, I'm a NetSavior." The voice was very familiar and the owner started to jiggle the handle trying to open it, but found that the door was locked.

Jesse put a finger over his mouth and then pointed to the door on the other side of the room. Both he and the young scientist ran for the door and slammed it shut just as a brown haired boy smashed the first door down. Jesse whispered, "Let's get out of here. We have what we needed. I can repeat the process later, but not if that idiot catches us."

Ciel didn't really know what was going on, but if Zero trusted this boy then so would she. They both started running for an underground utility passage that they could hide in until the DA collapsed.

Zero transferred himself back into his PET and informed his NetOp, "I've deleted all evidence that we were here on my end and I'm ready to detonate the bombs."

"Wait until the Hikari kid gets out of there. The last thing any of us want is the blood of an innocent on our hands," said Jesse. The other reason he didn't want to kill Netto was because he'd been one of Jesse's favorite characters.

The red navi nodded and sealed the doors behind his operator. He smiled as he heard something smash it's way through another door. _"The kid's persistent, I'll give him that."_ With Zero's help and their familiarity with the layout of the factory Jesse and Ciel were able to make it to the utility tunnel with ease.

* * *

Elsewhere Hinata wasn't doing as good. She fell out of Crossfusion and climbed into a barrel hoping that Laika wouldn't search them.

The Sharo born soldier knew that someone had entered this storeroom and he was determined to find them especially since that person or navi had wounded his fellow NetSavior. He searched the place looking in all corners and didn't find anything.

Finally Laika's eyes settled on the barrels and he reached for the lid. Using Searchman's strength he yanked the lid off the first drum. "Gotcha!" Inspecting the insides he found that he was mistaken and started checking the others.

Inside her barrel Hinata could hear Laika getting closer and she silently thanked God that the soldier hadn't just used Searchman's scanning abilities to locate her. _"Probably because he's pissed and not thinking straight after I shot Enzan. Why did I have to actually hit the cute one?"_

Hinata's barrel shook and she knew that Laika had caught her now. She closed her eyes and prepared for her inevitable exposure.

-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!-

The sound of the explosions ripped through the air alerting everyone that something was going on inside the factory. Poor Hinata cursed herself for being in a small…metal barrel. The sounds of the explosions had been amplified and left a loud ringing in her ears.

Laika punched the barrel causing it to fall over and when he didn't see anyone fall out he rushed back outside. He ran towards the burning fires to make sure that Netto and Enzan hadn't been hurt. When he made it there Netto landed on the ground by him.

"Good to see that you are not hurt," said the brunette. Rockman meanwhile was checking up on Searchman as well. Opening a secure line Netto asked, "Enzan are you ok?"

"Yes I am, but what was that? And where is Forte?" The young businessman had managed to make it to the control room with his injured leg. He'd checked the security footage and found that everything had been erased by a Program Advance. What was worse was that the dark navi that they'd come to battle hadn't been sighted since their arrival.

"Don't know. Neither of us has seen him either and it's not likely that the one that shot you was him, " said Netto. He knew that the super navi wasn't one to hit-and-run. Forte stood his ground and fought until he was on the verge of deletion.

* * *

After detonating the bombs Jesse and Ciel met up with Hinata near the storeroom. "Come let's get out of here," urged Jesse. With his own main goal complete he no longer needed this place and their own base of operations was still safely hidden from the NetSavoirs.

The three people made their way back to the utility tunnel and opened the door. Before they could enter a green glove roughly grabbed O'Neil's shoulder and the owner said, "Freeze! You three are under arrest. I'm a NetSavior and my name is Laika."

"Then shouldn't you be pointing that gun at those viruses instead of my brother's head," said Hinata. She was always quick on her feet and continued, "And why you're at it explain why we are in this…whatever it is."

Netto supported Enzan as they met up with Laika and his captives. Netto immediately recognized Jesse and Hinata. "Hey what are you guys doing here?"

O'Neil resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the blue NetSavior. Ciel just moved closer to Jesse and tightened her grip on his hand.

Hinata already started scheming one of her match making ventures for those two. _"They're so cute…and so much alike. They both need this."_ Drawing her mind back to their current situation she said, "We hang out here everyday after school until late in the evening. It's always quiet here and it never bothers anyone, so we come here."

"You do know that you can't be here? It's considered trespassing," informed Enzan.

Jesse spoke up saying, "By who? Well…there is the bank that owns this place, but it's not like we've been spraying painting graffiti everywhere or anything like that. I don't see what the problem is."

"Never mind that Enzan. Jesse have you or Hinata seen a strange navi while in here or a robot by any chance?" Netto being the dense person that he is didn't want to believe that the two new students where behind this.

Zero appeared over his NetOp's shoulder and answered, "Well there was a strange guy in the window of one of those buildings, but he never came out and said anything to us."

Enzan perked his head up and asked, "Did this strange guy by any chance have long, light green hair with purple tips?" When Zero nodded Enzan was surprised. Forte must've known that these kids where out here and yet he didn't do anything about it. _"May he didn't attack them because he didn't want anyone to know that he was here. If he had attacked or killed them there would've been an investigation, so he just watched them from a distance."_ It was the only theory that the boy could come up with next to these kids being behind this. _"But they are just kids, they couldn't possibly have built these dimensional area generators."_

Laika held the three of them in custody while the NetSaviors went over the factory. Thankfully for them the fire and bombs had destroyed any evidence that they had been involved.

Many Dimensional Area generators were uncovered and thirty-six were still usable. As they were moving more people in the Shuryou robot appeared and glared at Netto before disappearing. The NetSavior had seen this and now believed that the new students had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He told the Chief what he'd seen baffling the old man and Dr. Hikari. Forte's actions didn't make any sense.

Enzan questioned Jesse and Hinata several times getting the same thing every time. When he questioned Ciel the young girl grew silent and started crying asking for her siblings. _"Great! One of those types that can't be without her brother and sister without breaking down into tears."_ Ciel portrayed herself as the innocent, shy girl that she'd been growing up.

The NetSavior Chief decided to release them back into their parents custody. Ciel managed to pass herself off as their older sister and reconfirmed that 'their parents were dead'. Sasuke didn't hesitate to take the new girl into their family after he lectured them all for being on private property. The father had been told that the NetSaviors would be keeping their eyes on them for a time just to be safe. What he didn't know was that Kifune believed that they might have been working with Forte and he wanted to know for sure.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 6

Two weeks after being found in Forte's factory the small group found themselves still being monitored by the NetSaviors. The dark navi thankfully hadn't tried to make contact with them knowing that they would be exposed if he did.

Jesse and Zero were anxious to ditch their stalkers so that they could test Jesse's experiment rather than rely on simulations. Hinata and Blaze kept themselves entertained netbattling anyone that they could find.

The green-eyed boy walked over to the window and glanced out of the blinds. Sure enough, right across the street was the same unmarked van that the NetSaviors had sent to keep an eye on them. _"Don't they ever give up? How careless do they think that we are?"_

"Come on Jess, don't let them get you all worked up. School starts again tomorrow and we need to get some sleep," said Zero. The former Reploid didn't like waiting either, but they really didn't have much of a choice if they wanted to keep their secrets hidden.

* * *

The next day at school Ciel was taken to a nearby college and signed up by Ayame. The woman asked as many questions as she could think of trying to get the scientist to slip up, but the blonde was not easily stumped.

Ciel assured Ayame many times that she was just Jesse's and Hinata's sister. She said that she'd been living with friends trying to find her missing siblings after their parents died. Eventually Ciel had Ayame in tears with her touching story.

"So this is it?" Ciel looked at the large building and then back to her new foster mother.

Ayame nodded and said, "Yes, this is Densan Community College. It's the best that we can afford for you right now."

"It's ok. Anything is better than nothing and besides I can always get a job to help pay for all of this," said the young scientist. "Well I better be going. Thank you…mom."

Ciel made her way inside and found the receptionist at a desk to the right of the main entrance. She walked over to the woman and asked her about what she would need.

The old lady smiled and replied, "Your mother has already taken care of the application fees and most of the paperwork. All you need to do is tell me which course of study that you would like to take."

The blonde was surprised and said, "But I thought that there would be late fees and such since classes begin tomorrow."

"Mrs. Ayame took care of those. As I said, all you need to do is choose your course of study." The receptionist smiled and handed Ciel a pamphlet listing the currently offered courses.

The creator of Copy X found that most of the offered courses were going to be way too easy for her, so she picked herself out a few and decided to play dumb. She'd miss a few questions here and there as well as make a few common mistakes just to keep up the appearance that she'd never learned this stuff before.

Finally after choosing her courses she went to the bookstore and purchased the materials that she would be needing. Upon looking over the books Ciel tried not to laugh at how outdated these books were when compared with her own knowledge.

"It's good to see you again Ms. Ciel…and you're smiling this time," said a voice from beside her.

Ciel turned to face the person speaking to her and found Enzan Ijuin holding several books. "You're the NetSavior that I was interrogated by not too long ago. What are you doing here? I was under the impression that you'd already graduated and moved on to running a business."

The dual haired teen nodded and replied, "I have, but that doesn't mean that I can't go back to college and improve myself."

"_I smell a rat…named Enzan,"_ thought the scientist. She suspected that he was watching her hoping to find some link between her and Forte. Ciel had talked with Zero and learned everything that she could about this new world including many of the recent battles. She was willing to do what she could to help, but she didn't like being spied on.

"May I see your schedule," asked Enzan. When Ciel agreed he quickly compared their courses and looked back at her with a smile. "Well Ms. Ciel…it would appear as though we have same classes. Quite a coincidence, no?"

Ciel smiled and said, "Yes it is. What are the odds of that?" Despite her smile she was thinking, _"Coincidence my ass! Just how stupid do you think that I am?"_

"Well I'll be seeing you around," said Enzan before walking off. When the NetSavior was out of Ciel's hearing range he glanced at his PET and said, "Good work Blues."

The red navi replied, "No problem."

* * *

After school Jesse and Hinata met up with Ciel at the public library. Zero kept staring over Jesse's should at the black van that kept following them. _"These guys are not even trying to be discreet,"_ thought the former Reploid.

Once they were inside they found a small table near the back and sat down there. The homework was quickly completed and they began to discuss their current situation.

"We could always slip out of the back door," suggested Jesse.

Ciel shook her head and said, "No, we can't do that. That would tell them that we've got something to hide for starters and that's the last thing that we need right now." The blonde noticed a pleased grin on Hinata's face and asked, "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"I just spend most of today torturing Netto. I think that he'll crack long before we do," replied the younger girl. Ever since they been found she spend more time finding ways to drive the young Hikari insane with her evil pranks. Just recently she had slipped a strong laxative into his food and the results had been…entertaining to say the least.

-Boom! Boom!-

Jesse was the first to speak. "Ok let me just say that I had nothing to do with that…whatever it was."

The three teens ran to the window and saw a huge Metool virus walking down the street. Ciel's eye twitched and she said, "Now that's something that you don't see everyday." The other two just nodded in agreement.

Zero appeared over his operator's should and asked, "Are we going to fight it?"

Jesse shook his head and said, "No. The NetSaviors will be on top of this thing in no time and we'd be seen."

Blaze appeared and sat down on her NetOp's shoulder. "Suggestions anyone?"

Jesse smiled and said, "Yeah, I got one…let's use this as an opportunity to disappear from their radar for a while."

Zero smirked knowing what his operator had in mind. _"He wants to test it now. This should be interesting."

* * *

_

Outside of the library Netto and Enzan saw the giant virus walking down the street while occasionally attacking innocent people.

The brunette looked at his partner and asked, "Do you think that this is their doing?"

Enzan shook his head and replied, "They couldn't pull something like this without a Dimensional Area. This is something new."

The two NetSaviors left the van and rushed towards the creature trying to lead it away from the fleeing crowd. Netto picked up a rock and chunked it at the virus as hard as he could.

The Met turned it's two huge eyes towards his attacker and started walking his way.

Enzan looked at the virus and said, "Great Netto, now what? We can't crossfuse and we're completely unarmed."

Both teens started running away from the virus and it followed. They lead it towards an empty lot where nobody would get hurt and waited for the trucks carrying the Dimensional Area generators.

Time was cut short however when the virus attacked a nearby apartment complex after barely missing Netto. The building started to collapse and the boys were forced to watch as a woman struggled to get out. They ran to the pleading woman, not really sure what to do.

"We're not going to make it," said Enzan as he saw the woman's grip starting to slip and still no sign of the trucks.

Out of the ground four DA generators appeared enclosing the area in a dome. The two NetSaviors smiled before crossfusing. Enzan went after the woman while Netto distracted the virus.

Once the civilian was safe Ijuin rushed in to help Netto who had been blasted by the virus with a lucky shot. With a combined 'Dream Sword' program advance they easily destroyed the giant virus, but they were uncertain who had activated the generators.

After reestablishing contact with NetSavior HQ Netto learned that the trucks had been held up on the highway. Too many people had been running away on the road for them to get through in time. "So then who helped us?"

Yuuichiro replied, "I don't know, but I'm glad that they saved your life. When we tried to examine the generators they self-destructed."

Enzan growled hearing that. The teen didn't like the idea that someone out there could create DA's as Nebula had. It opened up the door for another Net Mafia and that idea didn't sit well with him.

* * *

At school the next day Jesse and Zero were discussing the complete success of their experiment. "I'm so glad that it worked. That was incredible!"

Zero grinned at his NetOp's antics. Jesse reminded Zero so much of the new generation Reploid Axl. "Well now that it works you should start working on one for your sister or else…she's going to kill you when she does find out."

"One what?"

Jesse and his navi turned around to see a familiar teen standing behind them with his arms crossed. Jesse nodded and replied, "Just a little something that I've been working on. And I'm not going to tell you what."

The teen approached Jesse and extended his fist. Once it was in front of the green-eyed boy the fist opened causing Jesse to pale slightly…inside was a Synchro-chip.

"Are you offering for me to join or something," asked Zero's NetOp.

The other teen shook his head and said, "No. I was just returning something that you dropped back at Forte's factory. I saw it fall out of your pocket when we arrested you and your sisters."

"What do you intend to do Netto," asked Jesse. He knew that the Hikari hadn't said anything yet, so he must want something.

"Nothing like that," replied Netto indignantly. "I just wanted to know why you had a Synchro-chip? To be more exact I wanted to know why you had the only remaining chip that my father developed? This is one of those stolen by Shademan. Please tell me that you didn't work for Nebula."

Jesse looked at Netto indignantly and felt his left eyebrow twitch. "Let's get one thing straight right now...I'm not and never will be part of a crime syndicate. So to answer your question, no, I never was a part of Nebula."

Netto breathed a sigh of relief. _"Well at least that's out of the way. Now to find out how he got the chip and why."_ "I believe you, but I'd like for you to explain why you had your hands on this chip."

"Well I'd like a million Zenny, but you don't see me getting that." Netto immediately frown at Jesse's retort. "Fine, I'll tell you. The only thing that I ask is that you don't say anything to your boss."

"I can't promise that," replied Netto.

Jesse nodded in understanding and said, "Then I can't tell you much. All that I will say is that I'm not interested in causing trouble."

"That's not good enough. You were in possession of stolen property and I've got a nasty suspicion that you were working with or for Forte." Netto was starting to wonder whether or not it was a mistake not to catch the kid and his siblings when they were at the factory. So far all he was getting no cooperation from the other brunette.

"Actually Forte is the one that gave me the chip and as for why he did that...well I don't know. You'd have to go ask him." Jess knew that if he made any mistakes right now Netto could have him behind bars in no time. He had to find some way to appease the NetSavior and keep his secrets a secret. "Look...I just wanted to be able to crossfuse like you. Is that a crime?"

"No, but accepting stolen property is. Then again so is lying to the police." Netto approached and said, "If you really want to crossfuse then you should try out for the NetSaviors. We can talk to Papa and Meijin later on today if you want."

Caught by surprise all the other teen could do was nod while Zero remained silent over his operator's shoulder.

As Netto passed by he said, "I'll see you after school."

"_Oh great! What have I gotten myself into now?"_ Jess made his way to Ciel and Hinata to explain the recent development.

* * *

Rockman appear on the screen of Netto's Advanced PET and asked, "Do you think that that was wise Netto-kun? I mean that he could be our enemy despite what he says."

"I know, but I want to find out just what he's up to. It's not everyday that someone meets with Forte and lives to tell about it. What's more interesting is that he may have been working with the super navi and I want to know why," said Netto. "We'll keep an eye on him while Enzan and Laika watch the other two."

"Enzan seems to be annoyed that he's having to return to college for this," commented Rockman remembering Ijuin's mood yesterday.

Netto stopped walking and looked down at his PET making sure that his eyes met with his brother's. "Do you think that...that they..."

"They what, Netto-kun?" Rock had a good idea what his brother was thinking about and urged him to continue.

The younger Hikari nodded and asked, "Do you think that they were responsible for the Dimensional Area that saved us yesterday?"

Rock nodded and said, "I think that it's possible. We won't know unless we find out more about them."

"Speaking of those kids, what did Enzan and Blues dig up on them," asked Netto.

Rock opened up a number of files in the background and set them where his brother could see them. "We only have records for them dating back just after Gospel was destroyed. There is no indication who their parents are, where they were born, or any real information on them at all. It just seems as though they appeared out of thin air."

Netto laughed at that idea. "People can't just appear out of thin air," he commented not knowing how close to the truth he actually was.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 7

"You told him what!" Hinata couldn't believe what her 'brother' had just told her. She glared at him and said, "Wasn't it you that said that we should keep things on the down low? Why did you tell him anything? Why didn't you play dumb or lie?"

"Because he already had the chip and he saw me ditch the chip back at the factory," said Jesse. He winced hoping that Hoishi didn't catch his slip up, but his luck has never been that great.

"Ditch? What do you mean? I thought that you loved Crossfusion?" Hinata knew that he wouldn't ditch his Synchro-chip to save his life unless he had something up his sleeve. She wondered if this had anything to do with his pet project that Ciel wouldn't talk about.

Jesse tried to hide because Ciel and chuckled nervously. "Well ya see I just kinda dropped it. I didn't mean to say ditch, it just popped out." From the look on his sister's face she didn't believe him and he really couldn't blame her. _"Why couldn't I have ever learned to lie well?"_ Sighing he decided that the trust may set him free…or condemn him to a painful death. "I…I developed a few modifications to Yuuichiro's original design for the Synchro-chip. I have the one prototype and it does work, but that's it. I didn't want to tell you more until I had another finished."

Ciel smiled and watched the two bickered as though they were really brother and sister. _"They certainly act like it. I wonder if they are aware of that?"_

Blaze and Hinata were surprised that Jesse could do something like this and not explode with excitement. _"Usually if he does something this big he can't keep his mouth shut for more than a day. This is a new record for him. I suppose that I can go easy on him…this time,"_ thought Hinata. "What makes this chip so special? How is it different than Dr. Hikari's?"

Jesse and Zero shook their heads and muttered, "That's the surprise." The green-eyed boy smiled and added, "You'll see once I've had time to make one for you and you're going to love it. Don't let the NetSaviors see it though otherwise they will find some excuse to seize it so that they can copy it."

"You did excellent on that chip. You should be proud of yourself and your accomplishment," said Ciel. She always encouraged other scientists to continue to make advancements and sharpen their skills. Ciel could see potential in this the boy and she urged him to march forward. It was obvious that he'd learned a lot from Zero and had already put that knowledge to good use.

Jesse shook his head and said, "I can't take all of the credit. You and Zero were a vital part of the project. Without the two of you I never would've made it this far."

Zero accepted his operator's praise and added, "All I really did was teach you what I knew. You are the one that put that knowledge to use." The red navi shot the NetOp a look that told him not to argue on this because he wouldn't win. Zero was by far one of the most stubborn navis to ever exist.

Blaze knew that it was pointless to try to get Zero to spill anything, but that didn't stop her from trying. The phoenix navi fired off questions left and right hoping that Zero might let something slip. Alas he did not fall for her trap.

* * *

After school Netto was searching for O'Neil and his sister. "Now where are they," he asked Rockman.

The blue navi wasn't of much help since he couldn't see much going on around him. He was able to see many pairs of legs, but that was about it. _"Like I could be of any real help without being about to see,"_ thought Rock. "Try the tree near the field in the back. That's where they usually hang out or atleast that's what Glyde told me."

"Right, I'm on it." Netto cheerfully started walking towards the back of the school and ran into Enzan. "What are you doing here?"

The dual haired teen replied, "Ciel skipped her lessons today and I figured that she'd be meeting with the other two. Logically this is the most likely place to find them since they can't go back to Forte's factory…unless they have another setup somewhere."

"How many could they have," asked the young Hikari.

Ijuin responded, "I don't know. I imagine as many as Ciel or Hinata could find."

"Hinata and Ciel?" Netto wondered why Jesse hadn't been included in there.

Enzan read the question in his teammate's eyes and said, "He just doesn't strike me as the brains behind their operations. The other two seem to be much more likely to be in charge given his reactions to them. That's my guess from our observations thus far."

Finally they made it around back and saw the topic of their discussion leaned against the tree talking. They wanted to sneak up and eavesdrop, but it was too late because Zero had already spotted them.

"So how can I help you guys," asked Zero sarcastically.

Enzan just rolled his eyes earning a growl from the former Reploid. Ijuin ignored Zero and turned his gaze to Ciel. "You do know that you actually have to attend the classes in order to get credit, right?"

The blonde scientist let her rebel streak shine and seemed thoughtful for a second. She then replied, "Oh rats. What was I thinking? I'm so absent minded at times." Ciel bit back a smirk at the annoyed look on her stalker's face. _"Ha ha…serves you right."_ She almost wanted to go back and take a few cosmetic courses just to see if he would participate. That image made her laugh a little while the others wandered what brought it on.

"Very funny. I understand that Netto has extended an invitation for you three to join the NetSaviors. We should be going," said Enzan.

The others could see that it wasn't a request, but an order. They complied because they didn't really have much choice. Saying no would've made the NetSaviors even more suspicious than they already were.

Jesse wanted to kick himself for such a major screwup on his part. Hoishi knew what he was thinking and whispered, "Don't worry…I want to kick you for this too."

"Thanks. I feel so loved," replied the green-eyed boy. He sent his best Zero-like glare at her, but she was unfazed by it.

"Enough chit-chat, let's go." Enzan knew that they were stalling and he wasn't about to let them escape. _"I'm going to get the truth out of them if it kills them. All I need to do is get them back to HQ and I know that they'll show their true colors."_ He was counting on them slipping up and would be watching them very closely.

* * *

When the group entered Densan's Space Center Commissioner Kifune and Manabe were meeting with Dr. Hikari and Meijin. The two major topics were a comet housing a being named Duo and the soda can that Dr. Wily had thrown at Netto yesterday. Everyone expected it to be some kind of bomb or something, so they were being extra cautious.

What little information they had gathered from Wily was that this alien life form was a great threat to their world. Wily hadn't gone into detail except to say that Duo was coming to pass judgment on the human race.

"Hey dad! What's going on?" Netto took once glance at the monitors and knew what they were discussing.

The eyes of the two head scientists and Commissioner's quickly fell on the guests that had entered with the young Hikari. Yuuichiro immediately asked, "Who are they? Why are they here?"

Enzan patted Ciel on the back earning a glare from her and a growl from Zero. "These children are the one's that we found in the factory raid. It seems as though they wish to join the NetSaviors. I think that we should give them a chance."

"_Chance my ass…all you want to do is expose some massive conspiracy and arrest us,"_ thought Jesse. He'd already come up with a plan of action and he hoped that the other two would follow his example. Jess just wished that he could talk to them without Enzan catching on, but that was impossible given the teen's proximity.

The Commissioner jumped in saying, "That's nice, we can always use fresh recruits. But before you go about giving them missions I'd like to see their skills."

"_Jesse's mouth just twitched…into a momentary smirk. Oh…I see, that's what he's going to do to get himself out of this."_ Hinata caught on quick and smiled at her NetNavi. "Let's show them what we 'can' do."

Ciel didn't really have much to worry about since she didn't have a navi and wouldn't be required to fight. The former Resistance leader felt that she would have to hide her programming and engineering skills.

"Very well…let's see just how good they are," said Kifune as he lead the way to a nearby simulator. It was where navi's were tested to see what they alone were capable of.

Zero fought against several Metool viruses and took quite a beating.

"_That was the most pathetic display that I've ever had the misfortune to witness. It's almost as though he…So that's how he's going to play it."_ Enzan watched as Blaze was given the same test and she lost three minutes quicker than Zero. _"They're not fooling me. I know that they are capable of doing a lot better than that."_

Kifune looked at the applicants with a mixture of shock, disappointment, and complete horror. Trying to sound sympathetic he said, "I'm…afraid that you children just…are not NetSavior material. It was a valiant effort to be sure. Perhaps you can try again later." _"As in years later…"_

Meijin left the room and said, "I'm going to go align the satellites so that we can send the navis to the comet." He left the room and snickered at Netto's choice of new recruits.

Netto stood in front of both NetOps and Ciel. He was about to say something when Meijin ran back into the room. "Dr. Hikari Forte is at the main gate. He just broke through and is headed this way now. I think that he intends to confront Duo on his own."

Everyone ran to the main control room for the satellite array. The original plan had been to send Rockman and Blues to the comet, but Forte wasn't going to allow it. Despite knowing that he couldn't win the dark navi intended to try to take Duo's power.

"_Some people just have no patience,"_ thought Jesse as he watched the Shuryou break through the reinforced doors. _"Guess Dr. Wily make Shuryou strong than I thought. He's still no match for Zero though."_

One of the police officers charged at Forte, but the robot just backhanded the man into the wall knocking him out cold.

Meijin immediately ordered the remaining people to keep their distance from the robot and not try to stop it.

The super navi noticed the presence of his temporary allies and assumed that they must've changed sides. _"No surprise there. Humans have no sense of loyalty. Dr. Cossack already proved that to me once before."_ He approached the main console and shoved his hand through the panel. He ripped out a cluster of wires and used them to transfer himself into the system. Once inside Forte quickly directed himself towards Duo's comet.

Back on Earth everyone watched as one of the most powerful navis of their world soared straight to the comet.

"Papa, what are we supposed to do? We can't let Forte gain access to Duo's comet." Netto was really worried what the human hating navi would do with that kind of technology and firepower at his disposal.

Enzan noticed that the two new NetOps and their navis didn't seem the least bit surprised by the intrusion or the knowledge of Duo's existence. _"Maybe they told their 'boss' about this and he came or maybe they're working for Duo?"_

If either kid had known what was going through the dual haired teen's head they probably would've jumped him together and dealt with the consequences later. Zero and Blaze would've encouraged them to hurt Enzan.

When the dark navi was half way to the comet another signal was detected leaving the comet heading straight for Forte. Meijin quickly called everyone's attention to the new development.

On the main monitor a white navi appeared. She stood before them with dignity and pride oozing from her posture. Slowly she opened her piercing red eyes and surveyed the humans in the room.

Jesse and Hinata tuned her out knowing roughly what was going to be said by both parties.

Enzan kept his eyes on the three kids and saw no surprise on their faces. The more he watched them, the more he thought that they were in on it. _"No sign of surprise and I doubt that they could all hide their emotions that well. How could they have known?"_

The people in the control room exchanged words with Slur and while they did Zero's party slipped out of the room. Ciel led way to the elevator that they had used to get up to this floor. "Let's get out of here. That Enzan creep is driving me to the point that I want to shoot him."

"It's okay Ciel. I understand your frustration." Zero smiled from his perch on his NetOp's shoulder. He knew how aggravating it was to want to scrap somebody, but couldn't for diplomatic reasons. The red navi turned to his NetOp and asked, "What's going to happen next?"

Jesse thought for a minute and then said, "Well with Duo focused on the NetSaviors we should be able to come up with some way to destroy him. But for our immediate plans…we need to get out of this building. Duo's about to send a massive number of viruses to attack and they don't rely on Dimensional Areas to appear in the real world."

Zero nodded in understanding. The last thing that they needed to do was show their true strength here with the 'Judge' watching all of them.

As soon as the elevator door opened the kids stepped out and headed for the main entrance. The guards were too tied up with securing Forte's entrance to stop them from leaving.

"We're home free," said Hinata as they exited the building.

Viruses started materializing in front of them and the others looked at Hinata. Zero said, "You just had to say it, didn't you?"

Hinata winced knowing that he was right. She always seemed to jinx them when she said something out loud like that. "One of these days I'm going to learn to just think it."

Zero shook his head and muttered, "I doubt it."

Several Spiky viruses spotted them and started chasing the group. Ciel was faster than the other two and left a dust trail in her wake.

Hinata looked at the trail of dust in disbelief and asked, "How does she do that?"

The former Hunter answered, "She hates dogs or anything shaped like them. Ciel was bit by one when she was just a little girl and has been terrified of them ever since. It's not like she meant to abandon us or anything."

Jesse knew what Ciel was feeling seeing as how he was claustrophobic. They heard a scream from up ahead and rushed to catch up to the fleeing scientist. When they got there they found that the blonde had went down a dead end and a Spiky had followed.

"We gotta help her," said Hinata.

Blaze appeared over her shoulder and said, "Obviously, but how? We are a little short on Dimensional Areas right now and the trucks are never going to make it."

"Use 'it' Jesse," said Zero.

Without hesitation Jesse reached into his pocket and pulled out his Synchro-chip. Blaze looked at the other two and asked, "What good is that going to do without a DA? Wait, didn't Netto get your Synchro-chip?"

"He got the one Forte gave us. This is the new one that I developed with help from Zero and Ciel. It's only fair that it be used to save her life. Synchro-chip in, Download! Begin Crossfusion!" Jesse welcomed the feel of Zero's armor covering his body as the two Crossfused. When the light died down there stood CF Zero…without a Dimensional Area.

"_So that's what he's been up! That sneaky asshole!"_ Hinata watched with amazement and annoyance as her brother jumped in to save Ciel.

"Buster Shot!" Jesse fired several shots at the virus aiming for it's central body area. The green-eyed youth helped Ciel up and asked, "Are you alright?"

Ciel nodded and said, "Thanks. I really hate dogs."

"Understandable," said Hinata as she walked up next to her 'brother and sister'. She grabbed Jesse's arm and flipped him over onto his back. "That's for not telling me about something 'this' sweet. I hope for your sake that you've got one for me."

Climbing back to his feet the boy answered, "I didn't have time to make a second one. I'll make you one, I promise. I've just got to do it without the NetSaviors finding out."

"Finding out what," asked a voice from behind them. The group turned and saw Enzan and Netto standing at the entrance to the alley.

When Netto noticed that Jesse had Crossfused with Zero he looked up at the sky and saw no Dimensional Area. "How did you do that," he demanded pointing his index finger at CF Zero.

Jess shrugged and replied, "Basically the same way all scientists do…I took another person's idea and built on it."

"That's incredible," said Enzan. He couldn't believe that somebody had developed something so advanced based on Dr. Hikari's original idea.

Before anyone could say more Duo's viruses found them and started attacking. The DA generator trucks finally arrived.

"_Finally,"_ thought Netto seeing the familiar dome cover the area. "Synchro-chip in, Download! Begin Crossfusion!"

Enzan and Hinata, not wanting to be left behind they Crossfused with their navis and began hacking away at he viruses.

"Z-Saber!" Jesse sliced several Metool viruses in half before three Quakers came after him. "Oh crap! Not good!"

"Wide sword, battle chip in! Download!" Netto spun around and took down four Gunners that were about to attack Ciel. When the teen boy landed he asked, "Why haven't you Crossfused yet?"

Ciel glared and replied, "I don't have a navi and even if I did I don't have a Synchro-chip."

Netto nodded in understanding and cleared her a way back into the building where she should be safe so long as they destroyed all of the viruses.

Hinata and Blaze handle the air borne viruses. "I don't know what the hell you're called, but I'll delete you anyway," said Hinata as he pulled out her guns and started shooting them down.

Enzan looked up after having one hawk-shaped virus almost land on him. _"Those shots…they look familiar…"_ He knew that he'd seen projectiles like that before, but he couldn't remember where it was that he'd seen them. He then sliced through four Metools and brought his sword down on a Nightmare. "Sonic Boom!" The attack collided with a giant spider-shaped virus causing it to fall, but not delete it.

Netto came to Enzan's aid when a bolt of lightening came from the sky and struck the spider deleting it. "Huh?" They both looked around and watched as the same thing happened to all of the other viruses present.

Hinata landed beside Ciel and said, "It looks like they're about to meet Duo."

The blonde scientist stared at the NetSaviors in confusion until they suddenly disappeared before her very eyes. "Where did they go?"

Jesse walked up and said, "Duo brought them to his comet. He's going to give them a long, snobbish speech and then give them a chance to save the Earth. Duo's interested in Crossfusion and that's probably the only reason he hasn't already taken us all out."

Zero added, "Don't worry. They'll be back in no time." He felt better when Ciel visibly relaxed a little. Now all that they could do was wait and plan their next move. No doubt the NetSaviors would be coming for the new Synchro-chip and knowing Jesse there was no way that he'd part with it while he still drew breath.

* * *

Author's note: The explaination for how the chip works will be in the next chapter. Also I'm going to start posting responses for reviews in the updates, so please drop me a line.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 8

Ciel looked at the site where the two NetSaviors had been just moments ago and then looked back at Jesse. "If Duo's so interested in Crossfusion then why didn't he take you too?"

Jess looked thoughtful for a second before looking offended. "Ya know I don't understand that one either. Maybe he knows that we're not native to this version of Earth?"

Hinata shook her head and said, "I bet that it has more to do with the little detail that we don't work for the NetSaviors. He wants to test our worthiness to survive, so he'd naturally take those two first. Duo will probably come back for us later," she leaned in towards her brother and added, "And he will most likely take you first."

"Wonderful…" Jesse hadn't thought of that, but realizing that the white giant would soon find out, if not already know, that he had developed the new Synchro-chip. "Let's get out of here before Duo changes his mind and takes me too." He knew that running away wouldn't really stop the 'Judge', but what else could he do?

"Let's get out of here before the NetSaviors come to check on their missing agents," suggested Zero.

They immediately went to the edge of the Dimensional Area dome and waited for the barrier to be shut down. As soon as it went down Hinata and Blaze were forced out of Crossfusion while Zero and Jesse remained.

Jesse could see the bitter look on Hinata's face and knew better than to brag about his current advantage. Opening his mouth would've resulted in a very painful death. _"I wonder how long she's going to stay angry at me for keeping this from her? Atleast she isn't taking it out on Zero or Ciel."_

"You know you don't have to stay in Crossfusion ya know?" Hinata knew that she was being a little rough on her brother, but she hated being left out of the loop. She figured that after a few days she might be able to forgive him. "Let's go home."

* * *

After being returned to Earth Enzan and Netto were too exhausted to chase after the three kids. Netto caught a glimpse of Duo's crest on his hand before passing out.

Enzan was able to remain awake and wondered what the future would hold for them. _"Somewhere out there those kids are running around with the power to Crossfuse without DA's. If that power falls into the wrong hands then we're all finished. Could this be part of the trial that Duo was talking about?"_

According to Duo during Dr. Regal's rampage he'd shown just how evil and wicked humanity was. The 'Judge' was willing to give them the opportunity to prove that they were not hopelessly evil. Dr. Hikari's Crossfusion, which brought navi and human together, and the NetSavior organization had given pause to Duo's judgment.

If the NetSavior failed to prove that their race was worth saving then Duo would commence 'planetary erasure'. The entire world would literally be erased from existence. To make the test even more challenging Duo would be tempting the hearts of man by giving them powerful navis and seeing how the world responded to it.

* * *

After a full day of rest Netto and Enzan had fully recovered. Now they had a meeting with Commissioner Kifune. Kifune had been briefed on everything that Duo had said to them, but today he was going to find out about the new Synchro-chip.

"Please be seated and we'll start the meeting," said Manabe.

Dr. Hikari and the two young NetSaviors sat. Meijin and Manabe were already seated and ready to hear what the two agents had to say that was so important.

"As you know we brought three kids here the day of Duo's arrival. What we found out was something quite interesting…they have Synchro-chips," said Enzan.

Dr. Hikari gasped in surprise while Manabe and Kifune were disturbed by this news.

"How did they get their hands on these chips," asked the Commissioner. If someone was distributing these chips it meant trouble on top of what they already had to deal with.

Blues answered, "We don't know for sure, but it's likely that they got them from Forte. Netto saw one of his classmates drop a Synchro-chip the day of the factory raid. He was investigating it trying to find out just who the boy and his siblings are working for."

"Why didn't you say anything about this sooner Hikari," asked an angry Kifune. It was a mistake for Netto to withhold information like this and he wanted to make sure that the boy understood that.

Rockman watched his brother knowing that he couldn't really say or do anything to justify his actions.

"He acted with my support," said Enzan. When the Commissioner's attention shifted to him the boy continued, "We believed that we could handle this alone and I take full responsibility for 'our' actions."

Kifune knew better than to believe that. He knew that Enzan would've blown the kids out of the water if he had seen what Netto had. He sighed and accepted the teen's confession. "I expect you to be more careful in the future. I don't want a repeat of this. Now what did you find out about them?"

Netto jumped in saying, "Jesse claims that Forte gave the chip to them, but he doesn't know why. He also states that he only wanted to be able to Crossfuse like we can."

"Do you really think that they can be trusted," asked Manabe. She knew that Netto had a tendency to only see the good in people. Despite being able to turn his enemies into allies they couldn't risk a repeat of Nebula with these kids.

They had to find out what the kids and Forte was up. Even though Forte had been defeated by Slur and dropped into the Ura Net they couldn't take chances with this especially as long as Duo was around.

"I do believe that they don't work for a Net Mafia, but I don't know who else they might be working for." Netto readjusted himself in his seat not feeling comfortable with the stares. He had a good idea what they were thinking and knew that he'd made a big mistake. "There is one other thing that is of importance…"

Yuuichiro asked, "What's that?"

Netto looked away from his father and said, "Jesse has a new kind of Synchro-chip. He can Crossfuse outside of Dimensional Areas." He looked around the room at the expressions of disbelief and shock.

"Netto that's impossible," said Yuuichiro.

"That's where you are wrong Dr. Hikari," said Enzan. "I saw it with my own eyes as did your son. Jesse was standing in front of us Crossfused without a DA."

The adults in the room were extremely alarmed hearing the capabilities of this kid. They couldn't believe that someone had created something like this without their knowledge.

"Find him immediately," demanded Kifune. He immediately dismissed the meeting and sent his two agents after the children. On route to the listed home for the children other NetSavior agents joined the pursuit just to be safe.

* * *

The first place the Net agents checked was at their listed home. Sasuke and Ayame were alarmed by the presence of so many police asking for their children. The two troubled parents were assured that it was just a follow up to their questioning of the factory incident.

"They are probably at school. I dropped them off this morning." Sasuke was sure that his kids were still at the school, but now he wasn't sure.

* * *

The next stop of their search led them to the school while the other agents were searching abandoned chip factories. Twenty minutes after they began their search the two net agents found the kids that they were looking for.

Jesse, Ciel, and Hinata were all gathered in one place, which made it easier for Enzan and Netto.

"Look Hinata I promise to get you your own advanced Synchro-chip as soon as I can get enough rare metal to do the job," said Jesse completely unaware of their guests.

Hoshi grumbled saying, "You and Zero have been tearing the Ura Net apart earning Zenny. How much longer is this going to take?"

The blonde scientist answered for the boy. "Probably about five or six months given the rate at which he's been saving money. You could cut that in half if you and Blaze would help them out."

"_So Zero is the navi that I've been hearing about. To be able to delete so many Ura Net navis he has to be extremely powerful and skilled."_ The dual-haired teen nodded and the two boys approached. "So you can make more of these chips? I'm sure that the Commissioner will be very pleased to hear that."

"What are you doing here," snapped Hinata. She knew the answer already, but she still felt like making them say it anyway just so she didn't feel as bad when she kicked their butts.

Jesse just watched the exchange with what appeared to be complete indifference. _"If he thinks that I'm parting with my hard work just because the NetSaviors say so then he's more insane than I thought."_

"Please Jesse, Ciel, Hinata just come back with us and we'll work everything out. The school is surrounded by now so you have no chance of escape." Netto really hoped that they didn't call his bluff. _"All that they have to do is use that chip and we've had it. Those trucks better hurry up…just in case."_

The green-eyed boy moved forward and said, "I have no intentions of giving you my chip so you can get that idea out of your head right now. I don't want to have to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

"_Netto what do you think that he has in mind,"_ asked Rockman.

The younger Hikari responded, _"I guess that he just plans to fight his way out. Why?"_

Rock shook his head and replied, _"I don't think that it's that simple. If that's what he had in mind then he wouldn't have simply kept coming to the school as usual. They have some ace in the hole that we don't know about. Be careful little brother."_

"_Always Saito, always."_ The spiky-haired brunette walked up to Jesse with his hands held up in a non-threaten manor. "We're not leaving here without the three of you and your navis, so please just come along quietly and don't make a scene."

Jesse leaned in and said, "Not a chance."

Enzan growled and charged at Jesse considering that he was currently their biggest threat. Hinata intercepted giving her brother the opening that he needed.

"Synchro-chip in, Download! Begin Crossfusion!" When the light vanished the boy leapt forward and grabbed both of his sisters. He jumped clear of the NetSaviors and headed towards the entrance.

"Zero, Jesse…you two had better not drop or else," threatened Hoshi. Her brother wouldn't deliberately drop her, but how often would someone intentionally drop their sister while fleeing from the NetSaviors?

Before Jess could make it out of the school the DA generator trucks arrived and enclosed the school in the giant dome. "What the hell are they thinking? Are they trying to provoke a fight in the middle of a school? They are insane, completely insane."

"O'Neil put me down so that I can Crossfuse," demanded his sister. As soon as she was down she too Crossfused and turned around to wait for their pursuers.

Enzan flew over a nearby building and he went straight for Jesse while Netto tangled with Hoshi.

"O'Neil you're opponent will be me," declared Enzan brandishing his Cyber Sword.

The boy just smiled and drew his Z-saber. Ijuin jumped into the air and brought his sword down on the saber. The smile grew and O'Neil looked down. Enzan's eyes followed and he saw a Mini Boomer at his feet.

Jesse jumped back while Enzan was caught in the blast. The dual-haired teen was only mildly injured by the explosion.

Netto was having trouble with the phoenix navi due to her flight abilities. _"If I'm going to beat her I need to clip her wings,"_ he thought as he watched her fly out of reach of his weapons again. "Rock Buster! Charged Shot!"

"Oh no you don't! Life Aura, battlechip in! Download!" Hinata sighed in relief as her barrier blocked the NetSavior's attack. _"That was too close. Time to get serious."_ "COMET STORM!"

"Area Steal! Elec Sword! Battlechips in, Download!" Netto disappeared and then reappeared right over Hinata. "Take this. Hiyah" To his surprise Hoshi grabbed his forearm preventing him from striking her.

"Welcome to parlor said the spider to the fly," she said before lifting herself and her attacker higher into the sky. "Rest assured, this is going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me," she said just before dropping him.

"I'm not that easy to get rid of," stated Hikari before latching onto her leg with both arms. _"I can't attack her now without risking both of our lives. I've got to get her to descend."_

"Buster Shot!" CF Zero pointed his gun at CF Blues and fired away. Several shots blasted the parking lot uprooting the pavement. _"Zero set the EX Skill for the Buster Shot on the Time Stopper."_

"_Done,"_ replied Zero.

"Time Stopper!" Jesse fired the shot directly at Enzan and caught the boy in the small stasis field. _"That was easy enough, but I don't know how long it will last. Better make this quick."_ He leapt into the air and brought his Z-Saber down on the other boy.

"Scope Gun!" A purple beam tore through the school and knocked the sword out of Jesse's hand. CF Searchman came out of the shadows and addressed his teammate, "Sorry that I'm late. Traffic slowed me down. Enzan are you alright?"

"Yeah, but I can't move." Enzan was trying to move, but the stasis field held strong. "Get me out of this," he said just before getting dropped on his rear. "Never mind."

"Fifteen seconds…not bad Zero," commented the navi's NetOp. He had guessed that Time Stopper would've last for a shorter period of time, but this was a very helpful surprise.

"So it's three against two? We're still not backing down." CF Blaze fired her Comet Storm at the source of the interruption however due to the teen hanging from her leg her aim was a little off. She glared down at Netto and demanded, "Let go of my leg. You're not my type."

"I already have a love interest," growled back the dangling teen. As soon as the words left his mouth the brunette instantly regretted it.

"Ah…isn't that cute. Wittle Netto-kun likes Meiru." She just loved teasing people and this one was exceptionally easy.

The NetSavior's eyes bugged out and he started stuttering, "Meiru…Me…she isn't my girlfriend. We're just friends…and she's a girl, but we're not a couple!"

Jesse who had been fighting the other two and losing stopped. He looked at his sister and her opponent and then looked back at his two and said, "Only Netto would stop fighting just to argue about whom he likes."

Laika nodded and added, "He's not that good at admitting his feelings, but he is a decent fighter."

Ijuin decided not to comment and resumed his fight with CF Zero. "Sonic Boom!" His attack threw Jesse into Ms. Mariko's new car leaving a huge dent into the hood and breaking the windshield. _"Oops! The Chief's going to rip me a new one for that."_

O'Neil used his dash ability to put some distance between himself and the two net agents. _"Time to play dirty."_ He smiled and then ran towards Enzan. "Bloody Quartet!" Jesse used Blue's Anti-Forte finishing move knowing how the dual-haired teen would react.

"Why you little…you stole Blue's move. You're going to pay for that." The Vice-President of IPC knew that he couldn't carry out the threat after being hit with one of his own moves. He was lucky to still be in one piece after an attack like that. _"How did he know about that move? We've never used it in view of the public. It doesn't make any sense."_

While O'Neil was distracted with Ijuin Laika was given an opening to strike. He pointed his Scope Gun at the back Jesse's head. The soldier moved forward until his enemy felt the gun barrel at the back of his head. "At this distance I can't miss. Give up now and I won't shoot you."

"You'd shoot me for self-defense," the green-eyed boy asked. _"He's got me. I can't move without getting shot."_

Zero was outraged that someone would threaten his operator like this. _"Jesse if you've got any bright ideas I suggest that you use them now."_

"_All that I've got is a something to hold over Netto's head. It won't help us with Laika."_ It made the NetOp's stomach that he would even consider using that kind of move against someone, but right then he didn't have much choice.

"_Laika watch out,"_ warned Searchman, but it came too late. A flowerpot was smashed into the back of his head. It didn't KO that soldier, but it did give him a massive headache and allow Jesse to slip away. When he turned to see who had so cowardly attacked him from the rear he saw Ciel holding another pot ready to bring it down on his head.

Before she could attack Laika snatched her wrist and held it above her head. He looked at CF Zero and said, "Stay where you are." He then looked up into the sky at CF Blaze and demanded, "And you…put Netto down and come down here yourself."

Knowing that they didn't have a choice they both complied somewhat. Hinata 'put Netto down' by kicking him in the face and letting him fall onto Ms. Mariko's already battered car. The roof of the vehicle was now much lower than the factory had designed it to be.

The red NetSavior was still recovering from his own attack and walked up to Jesse. "Exit Crossfusion now."

Jesse shook his head and replied, "I can't. A little defect that I found in the chip…I can't exit Crossfusion until Zero runs out of energy. I'd say about…four or five hours from now."

At first the Vice-President of IPC thought that the kid was lying, but one glance at Ciel made him believe otherwise. "That's quite a defect."

The creator of the new chip glared and spat, "I'm sorry that it doesn't please you. I didn't get the chance to work out all of the kinks before Forte blew up the factory and your raid."

"Easy Jess," said Zero trying to calm his operator down. The last thing that they needed was for something to spark another fight.

The students of Densan Elementary School all came out of the hiding and watched. Netto finally rolled out of his impression in the car and onto the ground. For the most part he was alright, but his pride had taken a nasty blow. _"I can't believe that she'd kick me in the face like that."

* * *

_

Hinata and Ciel were transported separately from Jesse because he was still in Crossfusion and they didn't want to risk him trying anything.

When the kids arrived at NetSavior HQ the two girls received many disappointed stares. Jesse's arrival brought about total confusion and curiosity. Many believed that he was just wearing some kind of suite and didn't realize the truth of his current state.

For the comfort of others O'Neil was forced to wear handcuffs and escorted by several armed guards while his two sisters were just escorted by four unarmed guards to separate interrogation rooms.

"_Divide and conquer," _thought the boy. He had expected as much from the Net police. Naturally he'd be seen as the biggest threat for obvious reasons. _"Ciel's got me beat there. Her knowledge alone makes her the greatest threat out of all of us."_

Commissioner Kifune entered with four more armed men. "So you are the young man that's caused such an uproar? It's nice to finally meet you in person."

Jesse looked up and said, "I can safely say that the feeling isn't mutual. You're wasting your time and more importantly mine if you think that you're getting your hands on my Synchro-chip."

Kifune arched an eyebrow and inquired, "And what makes you say that?"

CF Zero smiled and said, "The instant Crossfusion wears off Zero will create an overload inside the chip and that will destroy it beyond repair. I'm not turning my creation over to you...I won't do it."

"_This child isn't bluffing. He'd do anything to keep us from getting that chip."_ The large man sat down and tried not to look angry. "And what exactly did you intend to do with that chip anyway? You can't run off and go about vigilante justice my boy. Netto said that you claim not to be willing to work for a Net Mafia, so where does that leave you?"

"Ask as many questions as you like, I'm not turning it over to you or Dr. Hikari. That took months of work for me and I'm just going to hand it over because you say so." O'Neil figured that the old man was playing mind games hoping to get the chip, but the kid wasn't about to allow that. _"I gotta figure out a way out of this mess."_


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 9

After four hours of interrogation Kifune had made no progress with Jesse or Zero. Finally getting fed up with the teen's stubborn behavior the Commissioner left the room for a breath of fresh air and to check on the other two. _"The boy's Crossfusion should be wearing off any minute now and Dr. Hikari still can't find a way to prevent him from overloading the chip."_

The Commissioner walked down the hall to Ciel's interrogation room and looked in. Enzan had the pleasure of handling her, but from the looks of it he wasn't doing any better. Enzan looked like he was about ready to pull his hair out. He could see a vain pulsing on the side of the boy's forehead. _"I thought for sure that he would've got something out of her. I wonder just what she's doing to him?"_

After a few more minutes of observation Enzan stood up and left the room. When he was outside he walked over to the Commissioner and said, "Can't we make some compromise and just shoot her."

Kifune chuckled dryly and asked, "What did she say?"

"She kept turning everything around making me look like the criminal here. Ciel has politely refused to answer virtually every question I ask her and turned the questioning on me. She started asking me about my life and childhood. According to her I've got insecurities and daddy-issues." It was true that Enzan wasn't on the best of terms with his father, but he didn't think that he had 'daddy-issues'.

The Commissioner made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snicker. "Sorry…allergies," he lied. "Let's go see if Laika's doing any better."

Ijuin nodded and followed down to the last interrogation room. Blaze's PET was on the table next to Searchman's. The phoenix navi had projected herself onto the table and was glaring at Laika.

Enzan walked up to the intercom and pressed a black button. "Laika could we see you for a moment?"

The soldier glanced away from Hinata to the one way window for just a second before turning his eyes back to the girl. "We'll finish this later."

"Anytime Liki-chan," sang Hinata. She put on her best Russian accent and added, "Ta-ta love."

Upon exiting the room the blue-haired teen he leaned against the wall and asked, "What did you need?"

The Commissioner nodded towards Hinata and said, "What have you learned from this one?"

"She likes Pepsi, loves cats, and has given me this annoying nickname of Liki-chan," said the soldier. Every time that he asked a question Hinata had gone out of her way to call him by that vile nickname.

Just then Dr. Hikari came running into the holding area. The scientist was grinning ear to ear. He obviously had something very exciting to tell them, but from the looks of it his excitement would prevent that for a few minutes.

"_Yuuichiro gets so excited so easily sometimes,"_ thought Enzan. He decided to be blunt and grabbed a hold of the elder to get his attention. He then said nice and slowly, "Dr. Hikari…calm down and talk very slowly so that the rest of us humans can catch what you are saying."

Yuuichiro listened to the teen and forced himself to settle down. "I've got good news."

"You found a way to stop Zero from overloading the new Synchro-chip," guessed Laika. When the scientist shook his head the boy asked, "Then what has you so excited?"

"I figured out what was so special about the can the Dr. Wily gave to my son and Enzan. Inside were nanobots imprinted with design schematics. They're plans for a Dimensional Area project array. Once finished we can create DA's anywhere on Earth...with the use of satellites of course, but we will still be able to create DA's from here." Dr. Hikari was beaming with excitement about this 'gift' from Wily. He'd checked the plans many times before coming to the Commissioner and they were exactly what they appeared to be. There were no back doors, hidden traps, or doomsday weapons hidden inside.

"This is excellent news, though it is very surprising considering who it was that gave us the plans," commented Kifune. Before giving the Doctor permission to build the array he'd have Meijin give it a thorough looking over.

Enzan started walking down the hall and said, "We should be getting back to the boy. Crossfusion should be wearing off sometime soon. Maybe we can use this to get him to cough up the chip?"

"I doubt it. The young man seems to be very persistent." Kifune had spent four hours with the kids and had only received a headache from the encounter.

When they reached Jesse's room the four men stopped outside and began to discuss possible ways to get what they needed from the boy.

About that time Netto showed up with Rockman. "Hey dad. What did I miss?"

"Not much. Netto you know this boy better than the rest of us, what would you think would be the best course of action?" Yuuichiro smiled at the confused look on his son's face and added, "Do you what you think is best."

"Well I think that deep down he wants to help people just like we do. I think that we should offer him and his friends jobs with the NetSaviors." Netto saw the disapproving looks on his teammate's faces and said, "Think about it...they finally showed what they could really do when they fought us and it three against two. You could also get them to do it by making this their punishment...community service working by our side."

"Interesting idea Netto, but you're forgetting one very important detail...the new Synchro-chip." Enzan knew that he had the younger NetSavior there.

The brunette shrugged and said, "Not really. He'll be working for us so we know that the chip won't be in the hands of any criminals. We know that they are much better at fighting than they let on, so with Duo here we need all the help that we can get."

"I don't like the idea of leaving that chip in the kid's hands, but...as long as someone keeps a close eye on them I have no objections," said Laika. He stood in front of the window and watched Jesse stare at the glass. The soldier knew that the teen couldn't see through it, so he wasn't concerned.

After a few more minutes of arguing they decided to have the three kids 'drafted' into the NetSaviors. They would carry out missions just like the rest until the Commissioner deemed that they had served their time or until Jesse relinquished the chip.

"I'll tell him the 'good news'," said Laika. It was obvious that he just didn't want to have to go into the same room with Hinata again, but they let it slide.

Laika calmly entered the room and sat down. Jesse quirked an eyebrow and said, "Don't tell me...you're changing interrogators because the large guy wasn't getting anywhere?"

The soldier didn't even smile at the attempted humor. "Commissioner Kifune sent me to give you certain terms for the release of you and your friends."

"Let me guess. He wants the chip in exchange for our freedom." Jesse sat back and could feel that Crossfusion was about to fail. His glove covering his hand kept breaking apart into data and then reforming. Zero was giving it everything that he had to keep it together, but even the 'Red Demon' had his limits.

"That is one way out of this, but there is another. You should be thanking Netto for this one." The blue-haired teen set his PET on the table when something caught his eye. Zero's helmet had parts of it break off into data and then pull itself back together. _"So he's reached his limits. Maybe they're not a complete waste of time after all."_

"What's the catch," demanded O'Neil. He knew that organizations like this didn't just allow you to go free and given that he had something so enticing they were not likely to just let him go even if he did destroy the chip. Most likely the NetSaviors would post 24-hour agents to watch his every move and wait for him to make another. They'd then move in and seize it at the first opportunity.

"The catch as you so elegantly put it is this, you and your friends will work with us. You'll be assigned missions and be expected to fill out reports just like the rest of us. The Commissioner informed me that you may also keep your advanced Synchro-chip so long as it's used for NetSavior purposes. If we suspect that you have been selling them to anyone then we will place the three of you in a maximum security detention facility for children and take away your navis." Laika could see the anger in the teen's eyes. He knew that the boy didn't like being bossed around and would probably just destroy the chip out of spite.

"And what if I just destroy the chip," asked Jesse venomously.

The soldier didn't flinch at the tone of voice and just answered, "Then you straight to the detention facility. Do not pass go, do not collect two-hundred Zenny. Are we clear?"

"I choose the detention facility. There's no way that I'm going to help you." Jesse saw a huge chunk of his body come apart and pull itself back together. _"This isn't good. I'm down to seconds here."_

"Fine th-" Laika was cut off by the door flying open.

"Wait," said Netto bursting into the room. He turned to his fellow student with concern. Netto couldn't understand why the boy was throwing the deal back into their faces. It made absolutely no sense to him. _"I've gotta give it a shot."_

"Jesse will you please reconsider? I'd like for you guys to join the NetSaviors, so please think it over." Netto seemed desperate to avoid sending anyone off or taking their navis away. He knew the bond that could form between human and navi and he didn't want to destroy that if he could help it.

O'Neil looked thoughtful for a few minutes. He could see that the brunette NetSavior was pleading with him. The green-eyed boy just smirked and replied casually, "Ok. I'm in."

"WHAT!" shouted Laika. "Why did you agree with him but not when I offered it?"

The smirk grew into a full-blown smile and Jesse said, "I don't like you. You are an ass. Netto's friendly, likeable."

The twins couldn't help but snicker after hearing Jesse's reason. No one had ever said something like that to Laika and it was unusual for anyone to smart off at him like that.

"Do you think that you could talk to your friends and get them to agree," asked the young Hikari.

"I might be able to, but only if you let me talk to them," replied Jesse.

* * *

The Commissioner allowed the teen to speak with his two friends with his supervision. 

"Jesse what is going on," asked Hinata. Enzan handed her back her PET and as soon as he did she stomped on his foot. "Keep your paws off of my PET or else you'll get it again."

"Now, now there is no need for that. Mr. O'Neil here has agreed to join the NetSaviors and we would like to extend the offer to you two as well." Kifune noticed the exchanged looks between the three kids. He decided not to ask about it, but he would have Laika and Enzan keep an eye on them.

Jesse sat down with the other two and said, "The deal is that we work for them until we've served our time. Our alternative is a maximum security detention facility and they seize our navis, not that that's a problem for you Ciel."

"Why did you agree to those terms? That's not like you." Hinata knew that her brother was up to something.

The boy replied, "It's not like we have much choice. Besides I get to keep my Synchro-chip and I can't very well argue with that."

Ciel, Blaze, and Hinata all shot the teen a look that said otherwise.

Ciel muttered, "You're usually the first one to argue with anyone about anything."

Kifune looked expectantly at the teens. "So which option will with the rest of you take?"

Hinata growled, but agreed to the arrangement so long as she was partnered with her brother. She made it perfectly clear that she wanted to stay with someone that she was familiar with.

Ciel sighs and says, "I don't know how much help that I'll be, but I will do it." The scientist meant that she was only going to assist Jesse and Hinata. She didn't feel comfortable sharing advanced technology with these people. In fact if it hadn't been for Zero she wouldn't have taught Jesse anything.

"Good," said the Commissioner with a smile, "Now that that's settled you may return home. I'll have some of my people escort you back."

"We can walk and if you're concerned about us trying something then you can send Netto with us," said Jesse.

* * *

As expected the Commissioner sent Netto to escort them home. While they were walking Hikari stopped them and turned to Jesse. "Why did you ask for me to escort you guys home? Why me specifically?" 

"Because you're a nice guy Netto. The other two that Kifune was likely to send are…difficult to deal with." Jesse walked past him and kept going. "There may even something that we can do for you."

"For me? I don't respond to bribery." He felt angry that this kid was playing with him like this. _"I try to help them and then they try to bribe me. Some people disgust me."_

Jesse shook his head and replied, "Not bribery. I just want to help, you are right about that, but I do have my own reasons for keeping secrets from you and the NetSaviors."

"O'Neil what are you doing," demanded Hinata. She was really hoping that her brother wasn't about to spill their secrets to the young NetSavior. She didn't even want to think about the consequences of these people learning the truth about them.

"Hey, he went to bat for us and now I think that it's time that we return the favor," said Jesse. He then turned back to Netto and said, "All that I'm asking of you is that you keep our secrets and we'll keep yours."

"And what secrets could I possibly have," asked the spiky-haired brunette. He had the feeling that he didn't want to know the answer, but his curiosity made him ask anyway.

"Well for starters we know that Saito Hikari is your twin brother or should I call him Rockman.EXE," said Zero's NetOp.

Netto paled and stopped dead in his tracks. With some mental prodding from his twin the boy mustered a poor response. "You're out of your mind. There is no way that…a navi…could be my brother. That kinda thing only happens in comic books and anime."

Rockman knew that his brother had to try to hide the truth, but Netto's words still cut deep into his heart. He quickly buried his feelings before his twin could sense them and get distracted.

Hinata grabbed a hold of Netto and rubbed his shoulder trying to calm him down. "It's alright. We're not going to tell anyone about it. I think what Jesse is trying to say is that he may have a few ideas to let your brother walk around with you in this world."

"The new Synchro-chip?" The NetSavior found it difficult to believe that after all of the hassle earlier that Jesse would just change his mind. He looked at the other brunette trying to figure out his game.

"No, that wouldn't help you Netto…atleast not very much. I don't want to get into details yet, but between me, Ciel, and Zero we maybe able to let you see your brother again face to face." O'Neil could see the hope flare upin both Netto's and Rockman's eyes.

Blaze linked herself to Netto's PET as did Zero and both navis appeared behind the blue navi.

Zero smiled and said, "This bunch may be very secretive about certain things, but I promise you that you can trust them. They are good guys and only have good intentions in mind."

The phoenix navi nodded in agreement and added, "With those three you'll be able to hold Netto again someday soon."

"Do you really think that they can do it? I mean even papa hasn't been able to do much for me in that regard. The most that I could do is protect my little brother while in Crossfusion or from within the Cyber World." Rock doubted that they could actually honor that promise, but there was a glimmer of hope. One of them had created an advanced Synchro-chip, so just maybe they could reunite him with the human world.

Blaze nodded again and said, "Don't doubt these guys. They know what they are doing, but it may take a while."

"I don't care," said Rockman. "I've waited this long and I can wait just a little bit longer assuming that you are being level with us."

"Oh we are Rockman," said Jesse as he and the other humans watched their navis. "We can't tell you everything because of the 'Judge' watching us. Ciel and I have been wracking our brains trying to find a way to delete that guy, but so far we've come up nothing…"

"You look like you may have something that could work," said Netto when he saw a pained look on O'Neils's face.

The boy looked up and barked, "That idea isn't usable and even if it was I seriously doubt that it'd make a difference. Just trying it would bring back too many painful memories for one of us and I'm not about to do that to him. I won't even consider asking him to make that kind of sacrifice."

Zero perked his head up and pieced together the cryptic message. _"Jesse thinks that might be able to use 'that'? Thank you for not asking…I couldn't do it. I just can't…"_

Jesse looks down at his netnavi and could see the emotions passing over his digital face. "Even if it might work Zero I couldn't ask you to do something like that. I know the kind of pain that it's caused you in the past and I don't wish to cause you more."

The red navi nodded and said, "Thanks for that one kid." He smiled weakly knowing that his NetOp hated being called kid especially since he was actually over 20 years old.

"I don't wanna know," said Hinata even though she already had a good idea and Ciel knew exactly what they were Jesse and Zero were talking about. The former 'Resistance' leader knew that the best thing to do was keep quiet on the issue and hope that Netto didn't press it. The last thing that they needed was for Zero to have a mental breakdown.

"So what do we about Duo?" asked Netto.

Ciel looked up sadly and answered, "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

"Well if we don't do something soon we're probably going to be marked like Netto and really don't like the idea of Duo's crest being imbedded in my hand," commented Jesse bitterly.

Hinata smirked and said, "Yeah now that we're NetSaviors we'll be pulled into his tests and maybe even marked as well. I do take comfort in the fact that Duo will go after you first bro and it's all thanks to your advanced Crossfusion."

"It doesn't hurt," said Rockman's NetOp. "Getting dropped on my face hurt, but being marked just tickled."

Rock shook his head and said, "Little brother I think thatfor him it's the principle of the thing."

O'Neil and Zero both nodded in agreement.

"AHHHHH!"

Everyone turned around to see what had made Hinata scream. The brunette was staring down at her hand and Jesse had to fight back a smirk. Sure enough Duo's crest glowed in the palm of her hand.

O'Neil looked at his sister and said, "You know normally I'd say something, but I'm not going to risk it. Besides I'm sure that you could guess exactly what I would say."

* * *

"Master Duo, do you really intend for those three to participate in the tests," asked Slur. 

The white giant nodded and replied, "Though they are not from this universe they are still citizens of this world. Watch them closely Slur and report your findings immediately."

The smaller white navi nodded and disappeared to prepare for the first test and observe the humans.

"_Interesting…a human reborn as a netnavi. I must learn more about their bond and the new comers."_


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE sadly.

**Zero: A Legend Reborn**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 10

When they reached their home Hinata invited Netto inside so that he could explain the situation to their parents.

As soon as Sasuke had heard why the NetSaviors had come looking for Jesse and the others he immediately backhanded O'Neil. "What were you thinking? No, never mind. It's obvious that you weren't thinking at all."

"Sir I realize that it's not my business, but I think that Jesse and his sisters just want to help. I can't really blame them for that even though what they did was wrong. It think that the important thing is their intentions." said Netto.

Sasuke looked at the young Hikari and said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions. They should have known better."

Ayame looked at their little boy and said, "I always knew that you were the troublemaker of the group, but I thought even you had more sense than this."

Jesse scoffed and said, "Hinata's the troublemaker…it's just that she's never been caught. I get caught every so often and Ciel has never done anything wrong that I'm aware of."

Sasuke was still very angry and refused to look at anyone of his adopted kids. "I expect the three of you to serve your time and I don't want to hear any excuses. I'm disappointed in each of you." With that said he left the house. It was obvious that he needed time to deal with this.

Ayame looked at the kids and said, "Go to your rooms now and I don't want to see your heads for the rest of the night." She turned to Netto and said, "Thank you for telling us about their…activities. I can't say that I agree with you letting them off so easy, but thank you for choosing to do so."

Netto nodded and left knowing that right now there wasn't a lot that he could do. The two parents needed to come to terms with this on their own.

Jesse, Ciel, and Hinata went to their rooms as instructed. They knew that they would have to wait until their 'parents' cooled off before speaking with them more.

* * *

Later on that night Jesse was up talking with Zero. "I can't believe that we let ourselves get caught. If the NetSaviors didn't know about my Synchro-chip then they just would've dropped it and we wouldn't have any problems."

The crimson navi nodded in agreement but added, "There was really nothing that could be done about that. If you didn't crossfuse with me when you did then you, Hinata, Blaze and Ciel would've been killed." Zero could practically feel his NetOps regret about having been seen, but like he said it couldn't have been avoided. "Besides Netto did help us out and it's not as though you didn't want to help the NetSaviors any way."

Jesse's head immediately turned away before Zero could read his facial expression. The green-eyed teen asked hesitantly, "Am I…really that obvious?"

The former Reploid started laughing and said, "I could see it in your eyes when we went to see Forte. You had every intention of helping Netto and his friends. The only difference between what you had planned and what happened is that you didn't intend for them to know anything about us. You certainly didn't intend to get yourself and the rest of us arrested."

O'Neil nodded knowing that, as usual, Zero was right. "It still bugs me that I made such mistakes. I still can't figure out how I let myself get caught in the first place."

"I could answer that for you." offered Zero, "The biggest reason why you got caught was because you tend to draw out these massively complicated plans with lots of twists and turns. What you should've done was keep it simple."

The navi then explained why complex was never a good thing. "Complicated plans have too many opportunities for something to go terribly wrong. Keep it simple and you keep such possibilities down to a minimum."

-KNOCK, KNOCK-

"Can I come in?"

Jesse and Zero both looked at the door in fear and surprise. They recognized the voice as Sasuke's and prayed that he didn't hear anything. O'Neil looked at the door and said, "Uh…sure, come in."

The red navi and his NetOp watched as the raven-haired man entered the room. Sasuke shut the door behind him and walked over to his son's desk. He sat down in the chair and then turned his attention to his son who was sitting on his bed with a PET in hand. "We need to talk."

Jesse felt the dread swelling up in his stomach. He knew that this conversation was coming, but he'd really hoped that it would have been put off until tomorrow. _"Atleast that way I could've come up with some really good excuses and maybe save my neck."_

"I'd like to hear your side." said Sasuke. He saw the look of discomfort cross his son's face and added, "I won't think less of you, but you've got to come clean. Tell me what happened."

The green-eyed boy wrestled with himself over whether or not 'coming clean' was such a good idea. _"We've basically lied to everyone since we first came here and now Sasuke's wanting everything out in the open. I never even told Netto everything…probably never will either."_ He took a deep breath and decided on how much to reveal. "This is going to be difficult, if not impossible for you to believe. I mean it's all true, but…not really believable."

"Just tell me. I promise that I won't laugh at you." The man felt that what was about to come next was going to be one heck of a bombshell. _"Just remember Sasuke you asked him to come clean. You'll only have yourself to blame if you can't handle it."_

O'Neil nodded and then pointed at Zero and his PET. "I'm sure that you've noticed by now that my PET isn't normal. In fact it isn't even one of the currently available models." He saw his father nod and he continued, "…Me, Zero, Blaze, Hinata, and Ciel are not from Earth…or at least not this one."

The raven-haired man's mouth fell open and all he managed to get out was, "Huh?"

"Like I said you wouldn't believe me, but it's true. We're from an alternate version of Earth. Zero, Ciel and Blaze came from one while Hinata and I came from another. We all met up here and we did what we had to in order to survive." Jesse looked into Sasuke's eyes to make sure that the man was keeping up. After all it's not every day that you tell someone that you're from an alternate universe.

"Me, Hinata, and Ciel are not siblings…of Ciel should be obvious sense we didn't come from the same universe and before you ask, No I have no idea how we ended up here and I have no way to send us home." O'Neil reached of to his desk and pickup a glass of water and took a sip. He wasn't really that thirsty, but he thought that Sasuke needed a short break to process what he'd learned so far.

Zero watched as his operator set the glass back on the desk and then turned to look at their caretaker. He could see the disbelief on the man's face and decided to take care of this now before it became a problem. "Sasuke he is telling you the truth now. Think about it…there were no papers on either of them, no family members have come forward to try to claim them, and they are a lot smarter than most people in their classes."

Slowly the pieces were starting to fit together for his kids. "This explains so much about all of you. I always thought that you guys were special, but I never would've guessed this."

The green-eyed boy thought about it and had to agree. "True. It's not something that you'd normally see on adoption papers. Place of birth: Alternate Universe." He chuckled at his little joke because of how funny it would look.

"Is Hinata really your sister? How is it that you're so smart? Why didn't you tell me?" When Sasuke asked the last question he couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice.

The boy and navi felt guilty about withholding such information, but it had been their only real defense until the new Synchro-chip was developed.

Zero re-entered the conversation saying, "We didn't think that you'd believe us even if we did tell you and we're not eager to be sent to padded rooms."

"To answer your other questions no Hinata is not my sister. We're are close friends from back home and that's it." Jesse then smirked and said, "As for how it is that our grades are so high…let's just say that I'm not twelve years old."

Sasuke looked at the boy and said, "The people in your world grow slower or something?"

Jesse shook his head. "When we were sent to this universe me and Hinata were turned into kids again. Believe me when I say that I wouldn't subject myself to this kind of torture intentionally." Looking away he angrily muttered, "Puberty once was enough for me. Darned squeaky voice…"

The man and navi heard the comment and started laughing lessening the tension in the room. The boy just glared at the two not finding his situation amusing in the least. Finally after working the laughter out of their systems Zero and Sasuke gave the attention to Jesse who was alternating his glare between the two of them.

"Are you two finished now? Having a squeaky voice and all that jazz once was cruel…but a second time is just…wrong." Jesse growled at the other two.

"Alright, we'll stop laughing. So how are you really?" asked Sasuke curiously. What amazed him was that he was able to fully believe what his 'son' was telling him about himself and his siblings. Most people would've already called the local psychiatrist and made sure that the boy was 'properly treated'.

The boy looked up in surprise that his dad was actually staying with him on this. It was hard enough just talking about since the risks were still very high and the possibility that Duo or his servant was spying on them were just a high. Finally recomposing himself he said, "Actually I just recently turned 21 and Hinata's a year older than me. Ciel…well I really don't know how old she is and I value my life way too much to ask. Women always get touchy about their age."

The other two males nodded in agreement remembering their own encounters with that dangerous question and females. No sane man would ask a woman her age unless they had a death wish or it was said woman's birthday.

The door swung open and on the other side was the most terrifying thing that they had seen all evening.

"Well dear brother a woman's true age and past are best left as secrets." said Hinata with a blazing aura covering her and the other two with her.

Blaze seemed to be completely engulfed in fire while Ciel's eyes seemed to be almost glowing red like some sort of evil demon.

Regaining his nerve Jess said, "Come on in and have a seat."

The girls accepted the offer and did as offered. Blaze looked at Hinata's 'brother' and said, "Well as long as you're being completely honest…why don't you tell us about your new Synchro-chip. We can't get anything from Ciel, so we're going to hear it from you."

O'Neil easily recognized the threat, but didn't pay it much mind. He'd intended to tell them how it worked earlier anyway. Now was as good a time as any. "Alright. To begin with you remember the transporters from Zero's world, right?"

As soon as both Hinata and her navi nodded Jess continued, "Well as you may recall the transporters work by converting matter into to data, transmitting it from one point to another, and the converting it back into matter. I took the converter and miniaturized it. Then I combined it with Dr. Hikari's Synchro-chip and that's basically what I did in a nutshell."

"Aw…so that's how you pulled it off. Basically it converts Zero back into a Reploid while merging him with your body. I assume that it does the same with the battlechips?" said Hinata as she thought about the new chip.

"Exactly and as for the 'flaw' in the chip…I lied. We could've exited Crossfusion at any point, but I didn't want the NetSaviors to get their hands on the technology behind the new chip. Zero trusted me with it and I'm not about to risk allowing someone out there to become another Dr. Regal." Jesse knew human nature all too well. Given temptation too many would give in for power or wealth and he didn't want to be responsible for giving such people the means to cause more devastation.

"So your technology is more advanced than ours?" asked Sasuke.

Hinata shook her head and said, "Not our technology. We're still way behind compared to this world. Ciel and Zero on the other hand have access to tech much more advanced than yours."

Both blonds nodded at the statement and waited to hear what Sasuke would say next. The raven-haired man looked at them all and asked, "Why did you steal the chip if you've got access to stuff more advanced? And why were you working with Forte?"

Jesse took the opportunity to answer those questions. "Well we didn't actually steal it. We accepted stolen property, but that was it. As for why we were working for Forte, well we needed his help. Also as much as the Net Police would like to see him gone they can't do that. He's going to be needed for future battles if humanity is going to survive."

"In other words you made a deal with the devil." guessed Sasuke filling in the blanks.

The others just looked surprised and it wasn't because they didn't think that he would figure it out, but because Sasuke had said the exact same thing that Jesse had said before they met with Forte.

Sasuke then stood up and started walking towards the door. "Well you've certainly given me plenty to think about. I'm not going to say anything about this to your mother or the NetSaviors, but I do expect for you five to pay your dues. Even if you had good intentions what you guys did is a crime."

"_Multiple crimes if you think about."_ thought Hinata. Of course she wouldn't say that out loud after everything that they've been through today.

"Thanks" "Thank you" "Appreciate" filled the air as Sasuke closed the door and returned to his room. There was no doubt that he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, if any.

They continued to talk, but eventually they called it a night and returned to their own rooms. The future was starting to look really interesting for them.

* * *

The next morning Hinata and her siblings were greeted by Enzan and Laika. "What are you two doing here?" she growled.

Laika just glared at the girl and said, "The Commissioner wanted us to keep an eye on you three."

"Don't you mean five," said Jesse before pointing to the PETs. "You forgot about Zero and Blaze."

"Yeah don't you forget about us my little mutant haired freak." shouted Blaze. The phoenix navis wings were twitching and burned with fire showing just how angry she was about being forgotten. Blaze was always one to enjoy attention and while she may not get it all of the time she absolutely hated being ignored.

The former Reploid remained silent but emitted an aura of 'killing intent' that both Blues and Searchman were able to easily pickup on from within their PETs.

Enzan hated having to put up with kids, but this was his 'glorious' assignment. _"I hate working with kids. What did I do to deserve this torture?"_ Clamping down on his temper before he said anything that he'd regret the boy turned to Ciel and said, "As I was saying the Commissioner wants us to 'break you in', teach you procedure, etc."

"In other words he wants to 'tame' us." voiced Zero finally starting to settle down even though he still wanted to maim something. He really didn't care what he viciously ripped to shreds so long as he got to do it soon.

O'Neil immediately recognized the warning signs of Zero's explosive temper and said, "Uh…maybe you'd like to go spend some time in the net? Yeah I think that you some quality 'Zero time'." Ignoring Enzan and Laika Jesse immediately sent Zero to the Cyber World and wished him luck…not that the crimson demon would actually need it. _"It's the thought that counts."_

"Did you think that perhaps Zero might need to hear this too?" asked Enzan using that 'I'm-superior-to-you' voice of his.

Jesse flipped him off and said, "Zero's A LOT stronger than you've seen and believe me when I say that he is not someone that you want to screw with. He has a very wild nature that's only quelled by fighting. You pissing him off like you just did could easily resort in something, say a partner being deleted."

"DON'T YOU DARE THREATEN ME!" Enzan barked. _"How dare these…these punks try to intimidate me?"_

Ciel spoke softly saying, "He wasn't threatening you Enzan. He was just telling you the truth. This is Zero that we're talking about and he is many things, but controllable he is not. Zero doesn't really fight for justice so much as he fights for his friends and their ideals."

"You can't control your navi?" asked Enzan in surprise.

O'Neil scoffed and said, "I can't control Zero anymore than I could control you. I would think that Netto had taught you already that navis are people too." Jess leaned in getting angry again and added, "They have their own souls and dreams, don't treat them like they are possessions that only exist to serve you and others. They are people too even if they are not made of flesh and blood."

Both NetSaviors had already accepted that idea after having been around Netto for as long as they had, but to hear another person talk about it the same way that Netto did was something that they were not expecting.

Both teens dropped the subject and returned to the original topic of their conversation. "You three still need training and…" Laika turned to Ciel and looked her over. "Why don't you have a PET? Surely you have a netnavi."

Hinata glared at the NetSaviors knowing how this particular topic was a sore subject with the blonde scientist. _"I'll make you pay if I see so much as the beginning of tears in Ciel's eyes."_

Right on cue Ciel's eyes started to water up and she managed to say, "I don't have my own navi. I've never really had the time to prepare one for myself and I don't want a generic navi. I want one of my own creation or at the very least one that I can identify with."

"_That's it! He is mine!"_ Hinata started trying to come up with an effective and embarrassing way to strike back at the dual-haired teen. _"Torture…no, kidnapping and torture…too easily traced back to me, laxatives in food…no guarantee that he'd eat it and no doubt that he'd see any funny looks on my face. There has got to be…oooo, maybe I can use 'that'? I doubt that Jesse would mind, it's for a good cause after all."_

Hinata walked up next to Jesse and brushed against him lifting something from his back pocket. She received a funny glance from him, but she returned the look with one of her own that said 'I'm scheming something, so just leave me alone and you won't get hurt'.

Getting no objections from her 'brother' the girl turned around and discreetly shoved the object into her back pocket making sure that the NetSaviors didn't see it.

"Hold it! What did you just slide into your back pocket?" Laika had caught the subtle movements with his watchful eyes and he knew that they were again hiding something.

"Nothing." answered Hinata indignantly. "Just a little sibling affection. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"If it were someone else then I'd say no, but this is you two that we're talking about here." Enzan walked over to the two teens and patted Hinata down first. Ignoring the protests and threats of a horrible death he quickly reached her back pockets. He reached in and emptied out the contents. "A battlechip?" He turned his attention back to the younger two and searched their faces for some clue as to what it was.

"Fine I'll tell you. It's supposed to be some kind of SUPER RARE battlechip that Zero and I found in the Ura Net a few weeks ago. It was something that I'd promised to Hinata and if you don't mind I think that she'd like it back…like say now." Jesse ordinarily wouldn't get too involved, if at all in any of his sister's schemes, but this time he'd make an exception.

Ijuin looked at the chip and then back to Hinata. "So what is it? What does it do?" he asked.

The girl just shook her head and said, "I don't know. I haven't had the chance to try it yet, but given how deep it was in the Ura Net it must be something powerful. I simply did Jesse's homework to get it and I didn't want you guys to take it away, so I tried to slip it out of his pocket in order to avoid this."

The soldier just shook his head and said, "You really don't think that we believe that do you." He couldn't believe the arrogance of these three kids. Did they really think that they'd be able to make a fool out of him? _"Not likely kiddies."_

Jesse rolled his eyes and said, "Since when have I cared what you think?" He stuck his finger on his lip making it look like he was deep in thought and then added, "Come to think of it when have I really cared what anyone thought? I think that I feel insulted...nope that's just last nights curry."

"Hey I made that last night!" shouted Hinata. _"Like his cooking is any better. Last time he was allowed near the kitchen he about killed me and five other people with food poisoning."_

Enzan stepped in breaking up the fight, "We're gonna have Dr. Hikari examine the chip and then you MAY get it back."

Hinata moved to take it back by force, but she quickly found both arms being held painfully behind her back. "Laiki-chan get off of me. That's abusing your power you know."

"Like we need lecture about abuse from you. We'll do this our way and after Dr. Hikari has completed his tests I might give it back to you. You'll just have to wait and see." Enzan then tucked the tiny chip into his pocket and started walking for the door.

Laika released Hinata's arms and then turned her around so that she had to face him. The green-haired teen could see the hatred in the girl's eyes. _"Good, now to channel that hate in another direction." _"After school today the three...five of you are to come to the NetSavior HQ for training. Enzan will escort you Ciel while Netto will accompany Jesse and Hinata."

Seeing the angry looks at their faces Ijuin said, "After all we want to make sure that the five of you show up. We can't have you kids pulling a disappearing act."

With that said the two NetSavior escorted their 'prisoners' to school while the same van of NetSavior agents set itself up at the schools main entrance.

Jesse and Ciel immediately notice that they are the center of attention as the students and faculty spot them entering the main building.

"_Um...okay...this is awkward."_ thought Jesse while Hinata and Blaze seemed to be ignoring everyone in favor of smiling about the trap that she'd set for Enzan and Laika.

"_Soon my little puppets, soon."_


End file.
